PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-12010615-B2
Application Number: US-201917283337-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Mobile device context transfer in a 5G system

Abstract:
An apparatus of an Access and Mobility Function (AMF) comprises one or more baseband processors to process a request from a new AMF for a user equipment (UE) context transfer for a UE registered to the AMF via a first access type, wherein UE context transfer request includes an indication of a second access type for the UE to register with the new AMF, and to determine whether an entire UE context should be returned to the new AMF based on the second access type. The apparatus can include a memory to store the request.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. One or more processors of an Access and Mobility Function (AMF) configured to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a request from a new AMF for a user equipment (UE) context transfer for a UE registered to the AMF with a first access type, wherein the request includes an indication of a second access type for the UE to register with the new AMF; 
 determining that an interface cannot be relocated to the new AMF; and 
 returning to the new AMF a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) of the UE and an indication that a registration request procedure is validated for integrity protection without including an entire UE context in response to determining that the interface cannot be relocated to the new AMF. 
 
     
     
       2. The one or more processors of  claim 1 , wherein the first access type and the second access type are any type of a non-3GPP access or a 3GPP access. 
     
     
       3. The one or more processors of  claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
 determining whether the entire UE context should be returned to the new AlVIF if the first access type is non-3GPP access and the second access type is 3GPP access. 
 
     
     
       4. The one or more processors of  claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
 determining whether the entire UE context should be returned to the new AMF based on a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) identity of the new AMF. 
 
     
     
       5. The one or more processors of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are to the operations further comprising: send a rejection of the UE context transfer request with an appropriate cause when it is determined to not return the entire UE context. 
     
     
       6. One or more processors of an Access and Mobility Function (AMF) configured to perform operations, the operations comprising:
 receiving a registration request from a user equipment (UE) registered to an old AMF with a first access type; 
 sending a request to the old AMF for a UE context transfer, wherein the UE context transfer request includes an indication of a second access type for the UE with which to register with the AMF; and 
 receiving from the old AMF a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) of the UE and an indication that a registration request procedure is validated for integrity protection without including an entire UE context. 
 
     
     
       7. The one or more processors of  claim 6 , wherein the first access type and the second access type is any type of a non-3GPP access or a 3GPP access. 
     
     
       8. The one or more processors of  claim 6 , wherein the registration request includes a native temporary identifier for the UE that is associated with a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) of the old AMF. 
     
     
       9. The one or more processors of  claim 6 , the operations further comprising sending a rejection of the UE context transfer request with an appropriate cause. 
     
     
       10. A method of an Access and Mobility Function (AMF) comprising:
 receiving a request from a new AMF for a user equipment (UE) context transfer for a UE registered to the AMF a first access type, wherein the request includes an indication of a second access type for the UE via which to register with the new AMF; 
 determining that an interface cannot be relocated to the new AMF; and 
 returning to the new AMF a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) of the UE and an indication that a registration request procedure is validated for integrity protection without including an entire UE context in response to determining that the interface cannot be relocated to the new AMF. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10 , wherein the first access type and the second access type is any type of a non-3GPP access or a 3GPP access. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 10  further comprising:
 determining whether the entire UE context should be returned to the new AMF if the first access type is non-3GPP access and the second access type is 3GPP access. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 10  further comprising:
 determining whether the entire UE context should be returned to the new AMF based on a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) identity of the new AMF. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 10  further comprising:
 sending a rejection of the UE context transfer request with an appropriate cause when it is determined to not return the entire UE context. 
 
     
     
       15. A method of an Access and Mobility Function (AMF) configured to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a registration request from a user equipment (UE) registered to an old AMF via a first access type; 
 sending a request to the old AMF for a UE context transfer, wherein the UE context transfer request includes an indication of a second access type for the UE with which to register with the AMF; and 
 receiving from the old AMF a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) of the UE and an indication that a registration request procedure is validated for integrity protection without including an entire UE context. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first access type and the second access type is any type of a non-3GPP access or a 3GPP access.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/742,762 (AB5908-Z) filed Oct. 8, 2018. Said Application No. 62/742,762 is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     In Fifth Generation (5G) systems, when the user equipment (UE) performs Initial Registration with the 5G network it needs to indicate an identity to the network. The UE can indicate either its permanent identity such as a Subscription Permanent Identifier (SUPI), encoded as a concealed parameter called a Subscription Concealed Identifier (SUCI), or a temporary identity such as a 5G Globally Unique Temporary Identity (5G-GUTI). The UE can maintain multiple 5G-GUTIs that have been assigned to it by Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs) to which the UE was connected in the past. 
     The choice of the identity to indicate to the network is specified in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Standard (TS) 23.502, clause 4.2.2.2.2 as follows. When the UE is performing an Initial Registration, the UE shall indicate its UE identity in the Registration Request message as follows, listed in decreasing order of preference:
         a native 5G-GUTI assigned by the PLMN to which the UE is attempting to register, if available;   a native 5G-GUTI assigned by an equivalent PLMN to the PLMN to which the UE is attempting to register, if available;   a native 5G-GUTI assigned by any other PLMN, if available.   NOTE 1: This can also be a 5G-GUTIs assigned via another access type   Otherwise, the UE shall include its SUCI in the Registration Request as defined in 3GPP TS 33.501.       

     There is one scenario, however, where this simple logic for selection of a 5G-GUTI can lead to an error situation. Specifically, consider the following case:
         UE is registered in a first Access and Mobility Function (AMF1) (PLMN1) over access type 1 (e.g. non-3GPP access)   UE attempts Registration in a second AMF2 (PLMN2) over access type 2 (e.g. 3GPP access)   PLMN1 and PLMN2 are equivalent PLMNs. UE does not have a valid GUTI for PLMN2, so it provides the GUTI for the equivalent PLMN1.   AMF2 is able to retrieve AWL but it should fetch only UE&#39;s SUPI, without disrupting the UE&#39;s Mobility Management (MM) and Session Management (SM) context in AMF1. The current specification does not allow for such an option. According to the current specification text AMF1 will return the entire UE context, which will eventually lead to an error situation where the Protocol Data Unit (PDU) Sessions established over access type 1 will be disrupted.       

     While this problem has been described in the context of Initial Registration, it also exists in the context of Mobility Registration Update when the latter procedure is performed as part of the mobility procedure for UE returning from an Evolved Packet System (EPS) to the 5G System, for example as described in 3GPP TS 23.502 clause 4.11.1.2.2.3 (step 12) and 3GPP TS 23.502 clause 4.11.2.3 (step 1). 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
       Claimed subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. However, such subject matter may be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG.  1    is a diagram of non-roaming architecture for a Fifth Generation (5G) Core Network for a 5G residential gateway (5G-RG) with wireline 5G access network and a Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG RAN) in accordance with one or more embodiments. 
         FIG.  2    is a diagram of registration procedure in accordance with one or more embodiments. 
         FIG.  3    illustrates an architecture of a system of a network in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  4    illustrates example components of a device in accordance with some embodiments. 
     
    
    
     It will be appreciated that for simplicity and/or clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, if considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding and/or analogous elements. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subject matter. It will, however, be understood by those skilled in the art that claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and/or circuits have not been described in detail. 
     In the following description and/or claims, the terms coupled and/or connected, along with their derivatives, may be used. In particular embodiments, connected may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical and/or electrical contact with each other. Coupled may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical and/or electrical contact. However, coupled may also mean that two or more elements may not be in direct contact with each other, but yet may still cooperate and/or interact with each other. For example, “coupled” may mean that two or more elements do not contact each other but are indirectly joined together via another element or intermediate elements. Finally, the terms “on,” “overlying,” and “over” may be used in the following description and claims. “On,” “overlying,” and “over” may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical contact with each other. It should be noted, however, that “over” may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other. For example, “over” may mean that one element is above another element but not contact each other and may have another element or elements in between the two elements. Furthermore, the term “and/or” may mean “and”, it may mean “or”, it may mean “exclusive-or”, it may mean “one”, it may mean “some, but not all”, it may mean “neither”, and/or it may mean “both”, although the scope of claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. In the following description and/or claims, the terms “comprise” and “include,” along with their derivatives, may be used and are intended as synonyms for each other. 
     Referring now to  FIG.  1   , a diagram of non-roaming architecture for a Fifth Generation (5G) Core Network for a user equipment (UE) with an untrusted non-3GPP access network, which typically can be a wireless local area network (WLAN) such as a Wi-Fi network, and a Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG RAN) in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed.  FIG.  1    shows an example architecture  100  in which a UE  110  can connect to the network via Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Access  112  or via untrusted non-3GPP access  114 . In some examples, the untrusted non-3GPP access network  114  can be a wireless local area network (WLAN) network. In some examples, the untrusted non-3GPP access network  114  can be connected to a 5G core network through an N3 interface interworking function (N3IWF)  116 . Architecture  100  can include Access Management Function (AMF)  118 , Session management Function (SMF)  120 , and User Plane Function (UPF)  122  to connect to Data Network  124 . It should be noted that architecture  100  of  FIG.  1    illustrates one example of a UE that can connect to a core network either via 3GPP Access  112  or untrusted non-3GPP access  114  via N3IWF  116 , or both, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. 
     In accordance with one or more embodiments, a UE context transfer may be implemented wherein a new AMF requests a UE context transfer from the old AMF. When this occurs, the new AMF can indicate the Access Type in the UE Context Transfer request. The Access Type, in combination with the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) identity of the new AMF, allows the old AMF to determine whether it is possible to relocate the N2 interface on the new AMF or not. In the latter case the old AMF only provides UE&#39;s Subscription Permanent Identifier (SUPI) with an indication that the Registration Request has been validated for integrity protection. Otherwise, the old AMF will provide the whole UE context to the new AMF and will eventually release the protocol data unit (PDU) Sessions established over the first access. This issue can be addressed as shown in and described with respect to  FIG.  2   , below. 
       FIG.  2    is a diagram of registration procedure in accordance with one or more embodiments. Registration procedure  200  of  FIG.  2    illustrates a modification of the call flow as described in Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Specification (TS) 23.502 clause 4.2.2.2.2 (General Registration). The modification is directed to operation 4 (Namf_Communication_UEContextTransfer) and operation 5 (Namf_Communication_UEContextTransfer response) of the registration procedure. It should be noted that where the standard is references, below, modifications or additions to the standard are indicated by underlined text. In general,  FIG.  2    shows the registration procedure operations executed by user equipment (UE)  210 , access network or radio access network (RAN)  212 , the new Access and Mobility Function (AMF)  214 , old AMF  216 , Policy Control Function (PCF)  218 , Session Management Function (SMF)  220 , Authentication Server Function (ASF)  222 , and Unified Data Management (UDM)  224 . 
     In one or more embodiments, when the new AMF  214  requests UE context transfer from the old AMF  216 , the new AMF  214  indicates the Access Type in the UE Context Transfer request. The Access Type, in combination with the PLMN identity of the new AMF  214 , allows the old AMF  216  to determine whether it is possible to relocate the N2 interface on the new AMF  214  or not. In the latter case the old AMF  215  only provides the UE&#39;s  210  SUPI with an indication that the Registration Request has been validated for integrity protection. Alternatively, the old AMF  216  simply rejects the UE context transfer request. This will lead the new AMF  214  to request the UE identity over the air using the Identity Request procedure. 
     The logic in the old AMF for determining whether the N2 interface can be relocated to the new AMF can be described with the following algorithm: 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 IF PLMN identity (new AMF) = PLMN identity (old AMF) THEN 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Relocation of N2 is possible /* assumption is that the network 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 is ‘fully meshed’ */ 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 ELSE 
                 /* i.e. PLMN identity (new AMF) ≠ PLMN identity (old AMF) 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 */ 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 IF Access Type (new AMF) = Access Type (old AMF) THEN 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                   
                 Relocation of N2 is possible (although for Access type = 
               
               
                   
                   
                 “non-3GPP” this requires an initial registration 
               
               
                   
                   
                 towards the new AMF; mobility registration update is 
               
               
                   
                   
                 anyway not applicable) 
               
               
                   
                 ELSE 
                 /* i.e. Access Type (new AMF) ≠ Access Type (old 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 AMF) */ 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Relocation of N2 is not possible 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 END 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 END 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Messaging from the new AMF  214  to the old AMF  216  can involve transmission of a Namf_Communication_UEContextTransfer message which includes a complete Registration Request, or from the new AMF  214  to the UDSF can involve transmission of a Nudsf_Unstructured Data Management_Query( ) message. With Unstructured Data Storage Function (UDSF) Deployment, if the UE&#39;s 5G-GUTI was included in the Registration Request and the serving AMF has changed since the last Registration procedure, the new AMF  214  and the old AMF are in the same AMF Set and UDSF is deployed, the new AMF  214  retrieves the stored UE&#39;s SUPI and UE context directly from the UDSF using the Nudsf_UnstructuredDataManagement_Query service operation or they can share stored UE context via implementation specific means if UDSF is not deployed. This includes also event subscription information by each NF consumer for the given UE. In this case, the new AMF  214  uses integrity protected complete Registration request Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message to perform and verify integrity protection. 
     Without UDSF Deployment, if the UE&#39;s 5G-GUTI was included in the Registration Request and the serving AMF has changed since last Registration procedure, the new AMF may invoke the Namf_Communication_UEContextTransfer service operation on the old AMF  216  including the complete Registration Request NAS message, which may be integrity protected, as well as the Access Type, to request the UE&#39;s SUPI and UE Context. See 3GPP TS 23.502 clause 5.2.2.2.2 for details of this service operation. In this case, the old AMF  216  uses either 5G-GUTI and the integrity protected complete Registration request NAS message, or the SUPI and an indication that the UE  210  is validated from the new AMF  214 , to verify integrity protection if the context transfer service operation invocation corresponds to the UE  210  requested. The old AMF  216  also transfers the event subscriptions information by each NF consumer, for the UE  210 , to the new AMF  214 . 
     In one or more embodiments, if the old AMF  216  has PDU Sessions for another access type, different from the Access Type indicated in this operation, and if the old AMF  216  determines that there is no possibility for relocating the N2 interface to the new AMF  214 , the old AMF  216  returns UE&#39;s SUPI and indicates that the Registration Request has been successfully validated for integrity protection, but does not include the rest of the UE context. 
     Alternatively, if the old AMF  216  has PDU Sessions for another access type, different from the Access Type indicated in this operation, and if the old AMF  216  determines that there is no possibility for relocating the N2 interface to the new AMF  214 , the old AMF  216  rejects the UE context transfer request. In case of rejection, the new AMF  214  uses the Identity Request message (operation 6) to request UE&#39;s identity. 
     NOTE 3: The new AMF sets the indication that the UE is validated according to step 9a, in case the new AMF has performed successful UE authentication after previous integrity check failure in the old AMF. 
     NOTE 4: The NF consumers does not need to subscribe for the events once again with the new AMF after the UE is successfully registered with the new AMF. 
     If the new AMF  214  has already received UE contexts from the old AMF  216  during handover procedure, then operation 4, operation 5, and operation 10 can be skipped. 
     For an Emergency Registration, if the UE  210  identifies itself with a 5G-GUTI that is not known to the AMF, operation 4 and operation 5 can be skipped and the AMF immediately requests the SUPI from the UE  210 . If the UE  210  identifies itself with PEI, the SUPI request shall be skipped. Allowing Emergency Registration without a user identity is dependent on local regulations. 
     Messaging from the old AMF  216  to the new AMF  214  can involve transmission of the Response to Namf_Communication_UEContextTransfer (SUPI, UE Context in AMF as per Table 5.2.2.2.2-1)) or from the UDSF to the new AMF  214  or the Nudsf_Unstructured Data Management_Query( ). The old AMF  216  may start an implementation specific (guard) timer for the UE context. The UE Context in AMF (as per Table 5.2.2.2.2-1) is not included in the response if the old AMF  216  determines that there is no possibility for relocation of the N2 interface. 
     If the UDSF was queried in operation 4, the UDSF responds to the new AMF  214  for the Nudsf_Unstructured Data Management_Query invocation with the related contexts including established PDU Sessions, the old AMF  216  includes SMF information DNN, S-NSSAI(s) and PDU Session ID, active NGAP UE-TNLA bindings to N3IWF, the old AMF  216  includes information about the NGAP UE-TNLA bindings. If the old AMF  216  was queried in operation 4, the old AMF  216  responds to the new AMF  214  for the Namf_Communication_UEContextTransfer invocation by including the UE&#39;s SUPI and UE Context. 
     If the old AMF  216  holds information about established PDU Session(s), the old AMF  216  includes SMF information, DNN(s), S-NSSAI(s) and PDU Session ID(s). 
     If the old AMF  216  holds information about active NGAP UE-TNLA bindings to N3IWF, the old AMF  216  includes information about the NGAP UE-TNLA bindings. 
     If the old AMF  216  fails the integrity check of the Registration Request NAS message, the old AMF  216  shall indicate the integrity check failure. 
     If the old AMF  216  holds information about AM Policy Association, the old AMF includes the information about the Access and Mobility (AM) Policy Association including the policy control request trigger and PCF ID. In the roaming case, V-PCF ID and H-PCF ID are included. 
     In one or more embodiments, the definition of the UE ContextTransfer service in 3GPP TS 23.502 clause 5.2.2.2.2 can be updated accordingly, as follows. 
     5.2.2.2.2 Namf_Communication_UEContextTransfer service operation 
     Service operation name: Namf_Communication_UEContextTransfer 
     Description: Provides the UE context to the consumer NF. 
     Input, Required: 5G-GUTI or SUPI, Access Type, Reason. 
     Input, Optional: Integrity protected message from the UE that triggers the context transfer. 
     Output, Required: The UE context of the identified UE or only the SUPI and an indication that the Registration Request has been validated. The UE context is detailed in Table 5.2.2.2.2-1. 
     Output, Optional: Mobile Equipment Identifier (if available), Allowed NSSAI, Mapping Of Allowed NSSAI. 
     See clause 4.2.2.2.2 for example of usage of this service operation. If the consumer NF sent an integrity protected message from the UE, the AMF uses it to verify whether this request is permitted to retrieve the UE context of the UE. If it is permitted, the AMF provides UE context to the consumer NF in the Namf_Communication_UEContextTransfer response. The following table illustrates the UE Context: 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 5.2.2.2.2-1 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 UE Context in AMF 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 Field 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 SUPI 
                 SUPI (Subscription Permanent Identifier) 
               
               
                   
                 subscriber&#39;s permanent identity in 5GS. 
               
               
                 SUPI-unauthenticated- 
                 This indicates whether the SUPI is 
               
               
                 indicator 
                 unauthenticated. 
               
               
                 GPSI 
                 The GPSI(s) of the UE. The presence 
               
               
                   
                 is dictated by its storage in the UDM. 
               
               
                 5G-GUTI 
                 5G Globally Unique Temporary Identifier. 
               
               
                 PEI 
                 Mobile Equipment Identity 
               
               
                 Internal Group ID-list 
                 List of the subscribed internal group(s) 
               
               
                   
                 that the UE belongs to. 
               
               
                 UE Specific DRX 
                 UE specific DRX parameters. 
               
               
                 Parameters 
               
               
                 UE MM Network 
                 Indicates the UE MM network capabilities. 
               
               
                 Capability 
               
               
                 5GMM Capability 
                 Includes other UE capabilities related to 
               
               
                   
                 5GCN or interworking with EPS. 
               
               
                 Events Subscription 
                 List of the event subscriptions by other 
               
               
                   
                 CP NFs. Indicating the events being 
               
               
                   
                 subscribed as well as any information 
               
               
                   
                 on how to send the corresponding 
               
               
                   
                 notifications 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 AM Policy Association Information includes the 
               
               
                 AM Policy Information and the PCF ID(s) below 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 AM Policy Information 
                 Information on AM policy provided by 
               
               
                   
                 PCF. Includes the Policy Control 
               
               
                   
                 Request Triggers and the Policy 
               
               
                   
                 Control Request Information. Includes 
               
               
                   
                 the authorized RFSP and the authorized 
               
               
                   
                 Service Area Restrictions. 
               
               
                 PCF ID(s) 
                 The identifier of the PCF for AM 
               
               
                   
                 Policy. In roaming, the identifier 
               
               
                   
                 of V-PCF and H-PCF (NOTE 1). 
               
               
                 Subscribed RFSP Index 
                 An index to specific RRM configuration 
               
               
                   
                 in the NG-RAN that is received 
               
               
                   
                 from the UDM. 
               
               
                 RFSP Index in Use 
                 An index to specific RRM configuration 
               
               
                   
                 in the NG-RAN that is currently in use. 
               
               
                 MICO Mode Indication 
                 Indicates the MICO Mode for the UE. 
               
               
                 Voice Support Match 
                 An indication whether the UE radio 
               
               
                 Indicator 
                 capabilities are compatible with the 
               
               
                   
                 network configuration. The AMF 
               
               
                   
                 uses it as an input for setting the 
               
               
                   
                 IMS voice over PS Session Supported 
               
               
                   
                 Indication over 3GPP access. 
               
               
                 Homogenous Support of 
                 Indicates per UE if “IMS Voice 
               
               
                 IMS Voice over PS 
                 over PS Sessions” is homogeneously 
               
               
                 Sessions 
                 supported in all TAs in the serving 
               
               
                   
                 AMF or homogeneously not supported, 
               
               
                   
                 or, support is non-homogeneous/unknown, 
               
               
                   
                 see clause 5.16.3.3 of TS 23.501 [2], 
               
               
                 UE Radio Capability for 
                 Information used by the NG-RAN to 
               
               
                 Paging Information 
                 enhance the paging towards the UE 
               
               
                   
                 (see clause 5.4.4.1 of TS 23.501 [2]). 
               
               
                 Information On 
                 Information sent by the NG-RAN, and 
               
               
                 Recommended Cells And 
                 used by the AMF when paging the 
               
               
                 RAN nodes For Paging 
                 UE to help determining the NG-RAN 
               
               
                   
                 nodes to be paged as well as to 
               
               
                   
                 provide the information on recommended 
               
               
                   
                 cells to each of these NG-RAN nodes, 
               
               
                   
                 in order to optimize the probability 
               
               
                   
                 of successful paging while minimizing 
               
               
                   
                 the signalling load on the radio path. 
               
               
                 UE Radio Capability 
                 Information sent by the NG-RAN node 
               
               
                 Information 
                 and stored in the AMF. The AMF sends 
               
               
                   
                 this information to the NG-RAN node 
               
               
                   
                 within the UE context during transition 
               
               
                   
                 to CM-CONNECTED state. 
               
               
                 SMSF Identifier 
                 The Identifier of the SMSF serving 
               
               
                   
                 the UE in RM-REGISTERED state. 
               
               
                 SMSF Address 
                 The Address of the SMSF serving the 
               
               
                   
                 UE in RM-REGISTERED state, 
               
               
                   
                 (see clause 4.13.3.1). 
               
               
                 SMS Subscription 
                 Indicates subscription to any SMS 
               
               
                   
                 delivery service over NAS irrespective 
               
               
                   
                 of access type. 
               
               
                 SEAF data 
                 Master security information received 
               
               
                   
                 from AUSF 
               
               
                 Last used EPS PLMN ID 
                 The identifier of the last used 
               
               
                   
                 EPS PLMN 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 For each access type level context within the UE access 
               
               
                 and mobility context: 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 Access Type 
                 Indicates the access type for this 
               
               
                   
                 context. 
               
               
                 RM State 
                 Registration management state. 
               
               
                 Registration Area 
                 Current Registration Area (a set of 
               
               
                   
                 tracking areas in TAI List). 
               
               
                 TAI of last Registration 
                 TAI of the TA in which the last 
               
               
                 Update 
                 registration request was initiated. 
               
               
                 User Location 
                 Information on user location. 
               
               
                 Information 
               
               
                 Mobility Restrictions 
                 Mobility Restrictions restrict mobility 
               
               
                   
                 handling or service access of a UE. 
               
               
                   
                 It consists of RAT restriction, Forbidden 
               
               
                   
                 area, Service area restrictions and Core 
               
               
                   
                 Network type restriction. 
               
               
                 Expected UE Behavior 
                 Indicates per UE the Expected UE Behavior 
               
               
                 Parameters for AMF 
                 Parameters and their corresponding 
               
               
                   
                 validity times. 
               
               
                 Security Information for 
                 As defined in TS 33.501 [15]. 
               
               
                 CP 
               
               
                 Security Information for 
                 As defined in TS 33.501 [15]. 
               
               
                 UP 
               
               
                 Allowed NSSAI 
                 Allowed NSSAI consisting of one or more 
               
               
                   
                 S-NSSAIs for serving PLMN in the 
               
               
                   
                 present Registration Area. 
               
               
                 Mapping Of Allowed 
                 Mapping Of Allowed NSSAI is the 
               
               
                 NSSAI 
                 mapping of each S-NSSAI of the 
               
               
                   
                 Allowed NSSAI to the S-NSSAIs of 
               
               
                   
                 the Subscribed S-NSSAIs. 
               
               
                 AMF UE NGAP ID 
                 Identifies the UE association over 
               
               
                   
                 the NG interface within the AMF 
               
               
                   
                 as defined in TS 38.413 [10]. 
               
               
                 RANUENGAPID 
                 Identifies the UE association over 
               
               
                   
                 the NG interface within the NG- 
               
               
                   
                 RAN node as defined in TS 38.413 [10]. 
               
               
                 Network Slice Instance(s) 
                 The Network Slice Instances selected 
               
               
                   
                 by 5GC for this UE. 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 For each PDU Session level context: 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 S-NSSAI(s) 
                 The S-NSSAI(s) associated to the 
               
               
                   
                 PDU Session. 
               
               
                 DNN 
                 The associated DNN for the PDU Session. 
               
               
                 Network Slice Instance id 
                 The network Slice Instance information 
               
               
                   
                 for the PDU Session 
               
               
                 PDU Session ID 
                 The identifier of the PDU Session. 
               
               
                 SMF Information 
                 The associated SMF identifier and 
               
               
                   
                 SMF address for the PDU Session. 
               
               
                 Access Type 
                 The current access type for this 
               
               
                   
                 PDU Session. 
               
               
                 EBI-ARP list 
                 The allocated EBI and associated 
               
               
                   
                 ARP pairs for this PDU session. 
               
               
                 5GSM Core Network 
                 The UEs 5GSM Core Network cCapability 
               
               
                 Capability 
                 as defined in TS 23.501 [2] 
               
               
                   
                 clause 5.4.4b. 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 NOTE 1: 
               
               
                 The AMF transfers the PCF ID to the SMF during PDU Session Establishment. The SMF may select the PCF identified by the PCF ID as described in TS 23.501 [2], clause 6.3.7.1. In HR roaming case, the AMF transfers the identifier of H-PCF as described in clause 4.3.2.2.2. In LBO roaming case, the AMF transfers the identifier of V-PCF as described in clause 4.3.2.2.1. 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     There is also the addition of “accessType” and “plmnId” (of the target AMF which is the new AMF  214 ) in 3GPP TS 29.518 in clause 6.1.6.2.23 Type: UeContextTransferReqData as shown in Table 6.1.6.2.23-1 below. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 6.1.6.2.23-1 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Definition of type UeContextTransferReqData 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Attribute name 
                 Data type 
                 P 
                 Cardinality 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 reason 
                 TransferReason 
                 M 
                 1 
                 Indicate the reason for 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 the UEContextTransfer 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 service request 
               
               
                 accessType 
                 AccessType 
                 M 
                 1 
                 This IE shall contain 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 the access type of the UE. 
               
               
                 plmnld 
                 PlmnId 
                 O 
                 0 . . . 1 
                 If present, this IE shall 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 contain the PLMN ID 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 of the NF service 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 consumer (e.g target AMF). 
               
               
                 regRequest 
                 N1MessageContainer 
                 O 
                 0 . . . 1 
                 If present, this IE shall 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 refer to the registration 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 request message which 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 triggers the UE Context 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Transfer. The message 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 class shall be “5GMM” 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 and message content 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 shall be reference to N1 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Message Content binary 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 data, See clause 6.1.6.4.2. 
               
               
                 supportedFeatures 
                 SupportedFeatures 
                 C 
                 0 . . . 1 
                 This IE shall be present 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 if at least one optional 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 feature defined in clause 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 6.1.8 is supported. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
       FIG.  3    illustrates an architecture of a system  300  of a network in accordance with some embodiments. The system  300  is shown to include a user equipment (UE)  301  and a UE  302 . The UEs  301  and  302  are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks) but may also comprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, or any computing device including a wireless communications interface. 
     In some embodiments, any of the UEs  301  and  302  can comprise an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-Based Service (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange of data. An IoT network describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The IoT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network. 
     The UEs  301  and  302  may be configured to connect, e.g., communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN)  310 —the RAN  310  may be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UEs  301  and  302  utilize connections  303  and  304 , respectively, each of which comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, the connections  303  and  304  are illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation (5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like. 
     In this embodiment, the UEs  301  and  302  may further directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface  305 . The ProSe interface  305  may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH). 
     The UE  302  is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP)  306  via connection  307 . The connection  307  can comprise a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP  306  would comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi®) router. In this example, the AP  306  is shown to be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). 
     The RAN  310  can include one or more access nodes that enable the connections  303  and  304 . These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next Generation NodeBs (gNB), RAN nodes, and so forth, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). The RAN  310  may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RAN node  311 , and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells or picocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power (LP) RAN node  312 . 
     Any of the RAN nodes  311  and  312  can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs  301  and  302 . In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes  311  and  312  can fulfill various logical functions for the RAN  310  including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management. 
     In accordance with some embodiments, the UEs  301  and  302  can be configured to communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes  311  and  312  over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers. 
     In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes  311  and  312  to the UEs  301  and  302 , while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid comprises a number of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a collection of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the smallest quantity of resources that currently can be allocated. There are several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks. 
     The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs  301  and  302 . The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport format and resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It may also inform the UEs  301  and  302  about the transport format, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to the UE  102  within a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes  311  and  312  based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs  301  and  302 . The downlink resource assignment information may be sent on the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs  301  and  302 . 
     The PDCCH may use control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets, which may then be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as resource element groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH can be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of the downlink control information (DCI) and the channel condition. There can be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=1, 2, 4, or 8). 
     Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for control channel information that are an extension of the above-described concepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one or more enhanced the control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as an enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in some situations. 
     The RAN  310  is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network (CN)  320 —via an S1 interface  313 . In embodiments, the CN  320  may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN. In this embodiment the S1 interface  313  is split into two parts: the S1-U interface  314 , which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes  311  and  312  and the serving gateway (S-GW)  322 , and the S1-mobility management entity (MME) interface  315 , which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes  311  and  312  and MMEs  321 . 
     In this embodiment, the CN  320  comprises the MMEs  321 , the S-GW  322 , the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW)  323 , and a home subscriber server (HSS)  324 . The MMEs  321  may be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Nodes (SGSN). The MMEs  321  may manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS  324  may comprise a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities&#39; handling of communication sessions. The CN  320  may comprise one or several HSSs  324 , depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS  324  can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. 
     The S-GW  322  may terminate the S1 interface  313  towards the RAN  310 , and routes data packets between the RAN  310  and the CN  320 . In addition, the S-GW  322  may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. 
     The P-GW  323  may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW  323  may route data packets between the EPC network  323  and external networks such as a network including the application server  330  (alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface  325 . Generally, the application server  330  may be an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). In this embodiment, the P-GW  323  is shown to be communicatively coupled to an application server  330  via an IP communications interface  325 . The application server  330  can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs  301  and  302  via the CN  320 . 
     The P-GW  323  may further be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF)  326  is the policy and charging control element of the CN  320 . In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE&#39;s Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE&#39;s IP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within a HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF  326  may be communicatively coupled to the application server  330  via the P-GW  323 . The application server  330  may signal the PCRF  326  to indicate a new service flow and select the appropriate Quality of Service (QoS) and charging parameters. The PCRF  326  may provision this rule into a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with the appropriate traffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class of identifier (QCI), which commences the QoS and charging as specified by the application server  330 . 
       FIG.  4    illustrates example components of a device  400  in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the device  400  may include application circuitry  402 , baseband circuitry  404 , Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry  406 , front-end module (FEM) circuitry  408 , one or more antennas  410 , and power management circuitry (PMC)  412  coupled together at least as shown. The components of the illustrated device  400  may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device  400  may include less elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize application circuitry  402 , and instead include a processor/controller to process IP data received from an EPC). In some embodiments, the device  400  may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, or input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., said circuitries may be separately included in more than one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations). 
     The application circuitry  402  may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry  402  may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupled with or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the device  400 . In some embodiments, processors of application circuitry  402  may process IP data packets received from an EPC. 
     The baseband circuitry  404  may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry  404  may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry  406  and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry  406 . Baseband processing circuitry  404  may interface with the application circuitry  402  for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry  406 . For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry  404  may include a third generation (3G) baseband processor  404 A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor  404 B, a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor  404 C, or other baseband processor(s)  404 D for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry  404  (e.g., one or more of baseband processors  404 A-D) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry  406 . In other embodiments, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors  404 A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory  404 G and executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU)  404 E. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry  404  may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry  404  may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments. 
     In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry  404  may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP)  404 F. The audio DSP(s)  404 F may be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry  404  and the application circuitry  402  may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC). 
     In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry  404  may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry  404  may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry  404  is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry. 
     RF circuitry  406  may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry  406  may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry  406  may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry  408  and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry  404 . RF circuitry  406  may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry  404  and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry  408  for transmission. 
     In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry  406  may include mixer circuitry  406   a , amplifier circuitry  406   b  and filter circuitry  406   c . In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry  406  may include filter circuitry  406   c  and mixer circuitry  406   a . RF circuitry  406  may also include synthesizer circuitry  406   d  for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry  406   a  of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  406   a  of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry  408  based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry  406   d . The amplifier circuitry  406   b  may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry  406   c  may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry  404  for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry  406   a  of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. 
     In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  406   a  of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry  406   d  to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry  408 . The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry  404  and may be filtered by filter circuitry  406   c.    
     In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  406   a  of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  406   a  of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  406   a  of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  406   a  of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  406   a  of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  406   a  may be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  406   a  of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  406   a  of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation. 
     In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RF circuitry  406  may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry  404  may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry  406 . 
     In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry  406   d  may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry  406   d  may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. 
     The synthesizer circuitry  406   d  may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry  406   a  of the RF circuitry  406  based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry  406   d  may be a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer. 
     In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry  404  or the applications processor  402  depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the applications processor  402 . 
     Synthesizer circuitry  406   d  of the RF circuitry  406  may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle. 
     In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry  406   d  may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry  406  may include an IQ/polar converter. 
     FEM circuitry  408  may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas  410 , amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry  406  for further processing. FEM circuitry  408  may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry  406  for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas  410 . In various embodiments, the amplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be done solely in the RF circuitry  406 , solely in the FEM  408 , or in both the RF circuitry  406  and the FEM  408 . 
     In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry  408  may include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include an LNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry  406 ). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry  408  may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry  406 ), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas  410 ). 
     In some embodiments, the PMC  412  may manage power provided to the baseband circuitry  404 . In particular, the PMC  412  may control power-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion. The PMC  412  may often be included when the device  400  is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device is included in a UE. The PMC  412  may increase the power conversion efficiency while providing desirable implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics. 
     While  FIG.  4    shows the PMC  412  coupled only with the baseband circuitry  404 . In other embodiments, however, the PMC  412  may be additionally or alternatively coupled with, and perform similar power management operations for, other components such as, but not limited to, application circuitry  402 , RF circuitry  406 , or FEM  408 . 
     In some embodiments, the PMC  412  may control, or otherwise be part of, various power saving mechanisms of the device  400 . For example, if the device  400  is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is still connected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the device  400  may power down for brief intervals of time and thus save power. 
     If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the device  400  may transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device  400  goes into a very low power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device  400  may not receive data in this state, in order to receive data, it must transition back to RRC_Connected state. 
     An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and may power down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable. 
     Processors of the application circuitry  402  and processors of the baseband circuitry  404  may be used to execute elements of one or more instances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the baseband circuitry  404 , alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer 3, Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the application circuitry  404  may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from these layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmission communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a radio resource control (RRC) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 may comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 may comprise a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node. 
     The following are example implementations of the subject matter described herein. In example one, an apparatus of an Access and Mobility Function (AMF) comprises one or more processors to process a request from a new AMF for a user equipment (UE) context transfer for a UE registered to the AMF via a first access type, wherein UE context transfer request includes an indication of a second access type for the UE to register with the new AMF, and to determine whether an entire UE context should be returned to the new AMF based on the second access type, and a memory to store the request. In example two, the first access type and the second access type is any type of a non-3GPP access or a 3GPP access. In example three, the AMF is to determine whether the entire UE context should be returned to the new AMF if the first access type is non-3GPP access and the second access type is 3GPP access. In example four, the one or more processors further are to determine whether the entire UE context should be returned to the new AMF based on a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) identity of the new AMF. In example five, the one or more processors are to return a permanent identifier of the UE, and an indication to the new AMF that a registration request procedure is validated for integrity protection when it is determined to not return the entire UE context. In example six, the one or more processors are to send a rejection of the UE context transfer request with an appropriate cause when it is determined to not return the entire UE context. 
     In example seven, an apparatus of an Access and Mobility Function (AMF) comprises one or more processors to receive a registration request from a user equipment (UE) registered to an old AMF via a first access type, and to send a request to the old AMF for a UE context transfer, wherein the UE context transfer request includes an indication of a second access type for the UE via which to register with the AMF, and a memory to store the registration request. In example eight, the first access type and the second access type is any type of a non-3GPP access or a 3GPP access. In example nine, the AMF is to determine whether the entire UE context should be returned to the new AMF if the first access type is non-3GPP access and the second access type is 3GPP access. In example ten, the registration request includes a native temporary identifier for the UE that is associated with a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) of the old AMF. In example eleven, the one or more processors are to receive a permanent identifier of the UE from the old AMF, and an indication that a registration request procedure is validated for integrity protection. In example twelve, the one or more processors are to receive a rejection of the UE context transfer request with an appropriate cause. 
     In example thirteen, one or more machine readable media have instructions thereon that, when executed by an apparatus of an Access and Mobility Function (AMF), result in processing a request from a new AMF for a user equipment (UE) context transfer for a UE registered to the AMF via a first access type, wherein UE context transfer request includes an indication of a second access type for the UE via which to register with the new AMF, and determining whether an entire UE context should be returned to the new AMF based on the second access type. In example fourteen, the first access type and the second access type is any type of a non-3GPP access or a 3GPP access. In example fifteen, the AMF is to determine whether the entire UE context should be returned to the new AMF if the first access type is non-3GPP access and the second access type is 3GPP access. In example sixteen, the instructions, when executed, further result in determining whether the entire UE context should be returned to the new AMF based on a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) identity of the new AMF. In example seventeen, the instructions, when executed, further result in returning a permanent identifier of the UE, and an indication to the new AMF that a registration request procedure is validated for integrity protection when it is determined to not return the entire UE context. In example eighteen, the instructions, when executed, further result in sending a rejection of the UE context transfer request with an appropriate cause when it is determined to not return the entire UE context. 
     In example nineteen, one or more machine readable media have instructions thereon that, when executed by an apparatus of an Access and Mobility Function (AMF), result in receiving a registration request from a user equipment (UE) registered to an old AMF via a first access type, and sending a request to the old AMF for a UE context transfer, wherein the UE context transfer request includes an indication of a second access type for the UE via which to register with the AMF. In example twenty, the first access type and the second access type is any type of a non-3GPP access or a 3GPP access. In example twenty-one, the AMF is to determine whether the entire UE context should be returned to the new AMF if the first access type is non-3GPP access and the second access type is 3GPP access. In example twenty-two, the registration request includes a native temporary identifier for the UE that is associated with a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) of the old AMF. In example twenty-three, the instructions, when executed, further result in receiving a permanent identifier of the UE from the old AMF, and an indication to that a registration request procedure is validated for integrity protection. In example twenty-four, the instructions, when executed, further result in receiving a rejection of the UE context transfer request with an appropriate cause. 
     Although the claimed subject matter has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it should be recognized that elements thereof may be altered by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and/or scope of claimed subject matter. It is believed that the subject matter pertaining to mobile device context transfer in a 5G system and many of its attendant utilities will be understood by the forgoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and/or arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and/or spirit of the claimed subject matter or without sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form herein before described being merely an explanatory embodiment thereof, and/or further without providing substantial change thereto. It is the intention of the claims to encompass and/or include such changes.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20191008
Publication Date: 20240611
Grant Date: 20240611
Priority Date: 20181008
Inventors: STOJANOVSKI, Alexandre S.
ZAUS, ROBERT
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04W84/042", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W48/16", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W8/20", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W8/02", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W60/005", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W88/18", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W88/18", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W60/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W48/20", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W8/02", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W8/02", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W48/20", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W8/02", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W8/20", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W48/16", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W84/042", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 70164693