IP Library Granted Patent US 12696145
Granted Patent B2
US 12696145 · App. 18/035,357 · Granted Jul 28, 2026

Method for authenticating access layer on basis of public key infrastructure in consideration of handover in next-generation wireless communication system

Inventors: Donghyun Je (Gyeonggi-do, KR); Jungsoo Jung (Gyeonggi-do, KR)
Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
H04W36/0038H04W12/06H04W36/0058H04W36/08
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12696145
App. No.
18/035,357
Filed
May 4, 2023
Granted
Jul 28, 2026
Kind
B2
Art Unit
2647
USPC
370/331
Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting higher data transmission rates than 4G communication systems such as LTE. In a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention, an operation method of a serving base station for mutual authentication in an access stratum (AS) section during handover comprises the steps of: receiving a measurement report from a terminal; confirming whether the terminal meets handover conditions on the basis of the measurement report; if the terminal meets the handover conditions, confirming whether a target base station, to which the terminal is to be connected during handover, belongs to the same authentication area (AA) as the serving base station; and transmitting, to the terminal, a handover command that is configured differently according to whether the target base station and the serving base station belong to the same AA.

Claims (34)

1 . A method of operating a serving base station (BS) for mutual authentication of an access stratum (AS) section in case that handover is performed in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

receiving a measurement report from a user equipment (UE);

identifying whether the UE satisfies a handover condition, based on the measurement report;

in case that the UE satisfies the handover condition, identifying whether a target BS connected for handover of the UE belongs to a same authentication area (AA) as that of the serving BS;

transmitting, to the UE, a handover command including inter-AA handover information or intra-AA handover information depending on whether the target BS and the serving BS belong to the same AA, wherein the inter-AA handover information is transmitted in case that the target BS and the serving BS do not belong to the same AA, and wherein the intra-AA handover information is transmitted in case that the target BS and the serving BS belong to the same AA; and

transmitting, to the target BS, a public key infrastructure (PKI)-based authentication packet in case that a PKI-based mutual authentication between the UE and the target BS is completed based on the inter-AA handover information.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the PKI-based mutual authentication between the UE and the target BS is not performed and a key update procedure for the target BS is performed by the UE in case that the intra-AA handover information is transmitted.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the AA is a set of cells served by a physically or logically same computing node.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the same computing node is a logically or physically equal computing node,

the logically same computing node is implemented as software of a same operator, software having an same right, or software performing an same process, and

the physically same computing node is implemented as hardware of a same operator, hardware having an same right, or an same hardware component.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein, in case that the inter-AA handover information is received, the UE and the serving BS detach from each other and then the PKI-based mutual authentication between the UE and the target BS is performed.

6 . The method of claim 2 , wherein

the serving BS transmits a PKI-based authentication packet to a network entity, and

the PKI-based authentication packet is transferred to the target BS by the network entity.

7 . A method of operating a user equipment (UE) for mutual authentication of an access stratum (AS) section in case that handover is performed in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

receiving, from a serving BS for the UE, a handover command including inter-authentication area (AA) handover information or intra-AA handover information depending on whether a target BS for the UE and the serving BS belong to a same AA, wherein the inter-AA handover information is received in case that the target BS and the serving BS do not belong to the same AA, and the intra-AA handover information is received in case that the target BS and the serving BS belong to the same AA; and

performing public key infrastructure (PKI)-based mutual authentication with the target BS based on the inter-AA handover information.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the PKI-based mutual authentication between the UE and the target BS is not performed and a key update procedure for the target BS is performed by the UE in case that the intra-AA handover information is received.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the AA is a set of cells served by a physically or logically same computing node.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein, in case that the inter-AA handover information is received, the UE detaches from the serving BS and then performs the PKI-based mutual authentication with the target BS.

11 . A serving base station (BS) supporting mutual authentication of an access stratum (AS) section in case that handover is performed in a wireless communication system, the BS comprising:

a transceiver; and

a controller connected to the transceiver and configured to control the transceiver and perform control to:

receive a measurement report from a user equipment (UE),

identify whether the UE satisfies the handover condition, based on the measurement report, in case that the UE satisfies the handover condition,

identify whether a target BS connected for handover of the UE belongs to a same authentication area (AA) as that of the serving BS,

transmit, to the UE, a handover command including inter-AA handover information or intra-AA handover information depending on whether the target BS and the serving BS belong to the same AA, wherein the inter-AA handover information is transmitted in case that the target BS and the serving BS do not belong to the same AA, and wherein the intra-AA handover information is transmitted in case that the target BS and the serving BS belong to the same AA, and

transmit, to the target BS, a public key infrastructure (PKI)-based authentication packet in case that a PKI-based mutual authentication between the UE and the target BS is completed based oin the inter-AA handover information.

12 . A user equipment (UE) for mutual authentication of an access stratum (AS) section in case that handover is performed in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising:

a transceiver; and

a controller connected to the transceiver and configured to control the transceiver and perform control to:

receive, from a serving BS, a handover command including inter-authentication area (AA) handover information or intra-AA handover information depending on whether a target BS for the UE and the serving BS belong to a same AA, wherein the inter-AA handover information is received in case that the target BS and the serving BS do not belong to the same AA, and wherein the intra-AA handover information is received in case that the target BS and the serving BS belong to the same AA, and

perform public key infrastructure (PKI)-based mutual authentication with the target BS, based on the inter-AA handover information.