IP Library Granted Patent US 12666341
Granted Patent B2
US 12666341 · App. 17/593,457 · Granted Jun 23, 2026

Access barring for radio access network slicing

Inventors: Yuqin Chen (Beijing, CN); Birgit Breining (Munich, DE); Dawei Zhang (Saratoga, CA); Fangli Xu (Beijing, CN); Haijing Hu (Los Gatos, CA); Longda Xing (San Jose, CA); Rama Diwakara Rao Noolu (Fremont, CA); Sethuraman Gurumoorthy (San Ramon, CA); Srirang A. Lovlekar (Fremont, CA); Zhibin Wu (Los Altos, CA)
Assignee: Apple Inc.
H04W48/02H04W74/0833
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12666341
App. No.
17/593,457
Granted
Jun 23, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A user equipment (UE) may be barred from accessing one or more network slices. The UE collects information to perform an access barring procedure corresponding to a cell of a network, performs an accessing barring procedure using the information, performs a random access channel (RACH) procedure with the cell and establishes a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the cell.

Claims (35)

1 . A method, performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

collecting information to perform an access barring procedure corresponding to a cell of a network, wherein the information includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource set specific to a radio access network (RAN) slice;

performing an accessing barring procedure using the information;

performing a random access channel (RACH) procedure with the cell using the PRACH resource set, wherein the RACH procedure includes receiving a backoff indication (BI) scaling factor specific to the PRACH resource set; and

establishing a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the cell.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the information further includes one of i) an access category number associated with the UE and a network slice and ii) an access identity associated with the UE and the network slice.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the information further includes an indication of network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI), the NSSAI associated with unified access control (UAC) barring information broadcast by the cell.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the access barring procedure includes determining whether the UE and the cell are associated with a same access category number, the access category number corresponding to a network slice.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the access barring procedure includes determining whether the UE and the cell are associated with a same access identity number, the access identity number corresponding to a network slice.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the RACH procedure includes transmitting on a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource set specific to the RAN slice.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the RACH procedure includes receiving RACH configuration related parameters configured for the RAN slice.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message that includes an indication of a wait timer parameter, the wait timer configured based on a radio access network (RAN) slicing ID.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message that includes an indication of a wait timer parameter, the wait timer configured based on a common value and a slice specific factor.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a timer parameter associated with i) a radio access network (RAN) slice and ii) a radio resource control (RRC) idle state or RRC inactive state.

11 . A user equipment (UE), comprising:

a transceiver configured to communicate with a network; and

a processor configured to perform operations comprising:

collecting information to perform an access barring procedure corresponding to a cell of a network, wherein the information includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource set specific to a radio access network (RAN) slice;

performing an accessing barring check procedure using the information;

performing a random access channel (RACH) procedure with the cell using the PRACH resource set, wherein the RACH procedure includes receiving a backoff indication (BI) scaling factor specific to the PRACH resource set; and

establishing a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the cell.

12 . The UE of claim 11 , wherein the information further includes one of i) an access category number associated with the UE and a network slice and ii) an access identity associated with the UE and a network slice.

13 . The UE of claim 11 , wherein the information further includes an indication of network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI), the NSSAI associated with unified access control (UAC) barring information broadcast by the cell.

14 . The UE of claim 11 , wherein performing the RACH procedure includes transmitting on a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource set specific to the RAN slice.

15 . A baseband processor configured to perform operations, comprising:

collecting information to perform an access barring procedure corresponding to a cell of a network, wherein the information includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource set specific to a radio access network (RAN) slice;

performing an accessing barring check procedure using the information;

performing a random access channel (RACH) procedure with the cell using the resource set, wherein the RACH procedure includes receiving a backoff indication (BI) scaling factor specific to the PRACH resource set; and

establishing a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the cell.

16 . The baseband processor of claim 15 , wherein the information further includes one of i) an access category number associated with a user equipment (UE) and a network slice and ii) an access identity associated with the UE and a network slice.

17 . The baseband processor of claim 15 , wherein the information further includes an indication of network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI), the NSSAI associated with unified access control (UAC) barring information broadcast by the cell.

18 . The baseband processor of claim 15 , wherein performing the RACH procedure includes transmitting a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble sequence specific to the RAN slice.