Method and apparatus for supporting access control and mobility management

1. A method for managing a connection of a user equipment (UE) to a network, the method comprising actions at an access and mobility management function (AMF) of the network of:

receiving a registration request from the UE comprising a mobile initiated connection only (MICO) mode preference; and

transmitting a response to the UE, the response including a determination indicating that the MICO mode is allowed for the UE, a value of a periodic registration update timer, and an indication for disabling the UE's reset of the periodic registration update timer before the periodic registration update timer expires.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: when a communication activity schedule suggests the absence of at least one of a downlink and network-initiated communication with the UE, determining that the MICO mode is allowed.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising: obtaining the communication activity schedule from a unified data management (UDM) function.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: when a communication activity suggests a scheduled at least one of the downlink and network-initiated communication with the UE at a specified future time, determining that the MICO mode is allowed and the value of the periodic registration update timer value is such that the periodic registration update timer will expire before the specified future time occurs.

5. An access and mobility management function (AMF) node of a network comprising:

a processor; and

a machine-readable memory for storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the AMF node to perform actions of managing a connection of a user equipment (UE) to the network including:

receiving a registration request from the UE comprising a mobile initiated connection only (MICO) mode preference; and

transmitting a response to the UE, the response including a determination indicating that the MICO mode is allowed for the UE, a value of a periodic registration update timer, and an indication for disabling the UE's reset of the periodic registration update timer before the periodic registration update timer expires.

6. The AMF node of claim 5 , further comprising instructions to cause the AMF node to perform actions including: when a communication activity schedule suggests the absence of at least one of a downlink and network-initiated communication with the UE, determining that the MICO mode is allowed.

7. The AMF node of claim 6 , further comprising instructions to cause the AMF node to perform actions including: obtaining the communication activity schedule from a unified data management (UDM) function.

8. The AMF node of claim 5 , further comprising instructions to cause the AMF node to perform actions including: when a communication activity suggests a scheduled at least one of the downlink and network-initiated communication with the UE at a future time, determining that the MICO mode is allowed and the value of the periodic registration update timer value is such that the periodic registration update timer will expire before the future time occurs.

9. A method for managing a connection of a user equipment (UE) to a network, the method comprising actions at the UE including:

transmitting a registration request comprising a mobile initiated connection only (MICO) mode preference to an access and mobility management function (AMF) in the network;

receiving a response from the AMF, the response including a determination indicating that the MICO mode is allowed, a value of a periodic registration update timer, and an indication for disabling the UE's reset of the periodic registration update timer before the periodic registration update timer expires;

starting the periodic registration update timer after receiving the response, where a duration of the periodic registration update timer is equal to the received value;

and

keeping the periodic registration update timer running irrespective of a transition from an idle state to a state of connection to the network until expiry of the periodic registration update timer according to the indication.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein, upon expiry of the periodic registration update timer, performing a periodic registration update.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: entering the MICO mode after receiving the response.

12. A user equipment (UE) comprising:

a processor; and

a machine-readable memory for storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the UE to perform actions for managing a connection of the UE to a network including:

transmitting a registration request comprising a mobile initiated connection only (MICO) mode preference to an access and mobility management function (AMF) in the network;

receiving a response from the AMF, the response including a determination indicating that the MICO mode is allowed, a value of a periodic registration update timer, and an indication for disabling the UE's reset of the periodic registration update timer before the periodic registration update timer expires;

starting the periodic registration update timer after receiving the response, where a duration of the periodic registration update timer is equal to the received value; and

keeping the periodic registration update timer running irrespective of a transition from an idle state to a state of connection to the network until expiry of the periodic registration update timer according to the indication.

13. The UE of claim 12 , further comprising instructions to cause the UE to perform actions including: upon expiry of the periodic registration update timer, performing a periodic registration update.

14. The UE of claim 12 , further comprising instructions to cause the UE to perform actions including: entering the MICO mode after receiving the response.