Granted Patent B2

US 12,647,771 · App. 17/613,046 · Granted Jun 2, 2026

Inventors: Svante Alnås (Lund, SE); Torgny Palenius (Barsebäck, SE)

Assignee: Sony Group Corporation

H04W8/183H04W8/22H04W8/26

Abstract

Claims (34)

1 . A method in a wireless network for handling mobility of a user equipment (UE) by providing for transfer of capability information of the UE across one or more peer core network nodes of a core network of the wireless network, wherein the wireless network includes the core network and an access network for communication with the UE, wherein the core network includes a global network node comprising a global capability database storing user equipment (UE) capabilities, wherein each of the one or more peer core network nodes of the core network is in operative communication with the global network node of the core network, wherein the access network includes a plurality of wireless access network nodes each being configured for wireless communication with the UE, the method comprising:

obtaining by the global network node capability information for the UE, wherein the obtained capability information comprises a subset of a complete set of UE capabilities supported by the UE in the wireless network, the subset being obtained by filtering the complete set of UE capabilities supported by the UE with supported capabilities of one or more of the plurality of wireless access nodes of the access network;

storing in one or more of the global capability database or in databases of the one or more peer core network nodes a first capability ID as an identification of a set of UE supported capabilities from the obtained capability information for the UE;

detecting by a first peer core network node of the one or more peer core network nodes of the core network an ID change trigger indicating a second capability ID based on the UE registering with a first wireless access network node of the plurality of wireless access network nodes, the first wireless access network node being in operative communication with the first peer core network node, the second capability ID identifying a set of UE capabilities supported by the first wireless access network node, wherein the detecting the ID change trigger comprises receiving from the global network node and/or from one or more peer core network nodes other than the first peer core network node an ID configuration message that indicates the first capability ID as an alternate identification of the set of UE capabilities supported by the first wireless access network node; and

changing by the first peer core network node, responsive to the detecting the ID change trigger, identification in the first peer core network node of the set of UE supported capabilities from the second capability ID indicated based on the UE registering with the first wireless access network node to the first capability ID.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the core network node is connected to support an access network group of the wireless access network, wherein the first capability ID is associated with the access network group.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the second capability ID is associated with the entire wireless access network.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the core network node comprises a network management function connected to or including a local database.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the network management function comprises an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) or an AMF set.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the core network node is connected to support a wireless access network group of an access network, wherein the first capability ID is associated with said wireless access network group; and

the ID configuration message is received from the global network node, supporting a further access network group of the wireless network.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting, to the UE, a further ID configuration message comprising said second capability ID.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising receiving an acknowledgement message from the UE, acknowledging that the second capability ID has replaced the first capability ID in the UE.

9 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising transmitting the second capability ID to the access network for communication to the UE in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message or as a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein one or more of the RRC message and/or the NAS message is transmitted without requiring the UE to change connectivity mode.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining the capability information for the UE comprises filtering the complete set of UE capabilities supported by the UE in the wireless network with the supported capabilities of the at least one wireless access node.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving the ID configuration message comprises receiving the ID configuration message from the global network node operating the global capability database of the wireless network.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the obtaining the capability information for the UE comprises storing the capability information for the UE; and

the changing the identification in the core network node of the set of UE supported capabilities from the first capability ID to the second capability ID comprises changing a mapping between the stored capability information for the UE and an identification of the stored capability information for the UE from the first capability ID to the second capability ID.

14 . A first peer core network node operable in a core network that includes a global network node comprising a global database storing user equipment (UE) capabilities and one or more peer core network nodes of the core network, and a plurality of wireless access nodes providing a wireless access network, configured to handle mobility of a UE operating in the wireless access network, the first peer network node comprising:

logic configured to control the network node to:

obtain capability information for the UE, wherein the obtained capability information for the UE comprises a subset of a complete set of UE capabilities supported by the UE in the wireless network the subset being obtained by filtering the complete set of UE capabilities supported by the UE with supported capabilities of one or more of the plurality of wireless access nodes of the access network;

store in one or more of the global capability database or in databases of the one or more peer core network nodes a first capability ID as an identification of a set of UE supported capabilities of said the obtained capability information for the UE;

detect by a first peer core network node of the one or more peer core network nodes of the core network the core network node an ID change trigger indicating a second capability ID, based on an ID configuration message received from the global network node, wherein the ID configuration message indicates the first capability ID as an alternative identification to the set of UE capabilities supported by the first wireless access network node; and

change by the first peer core network node, responsive to said the detected ID change trigger, identification in the first peer core network node of the set of UE supported capabilities from the second capability ID indicated based on the UE registering with the first wireless access network node to the first capability ID.

15 . A method of operating a first peer core network node in a core network of a wireless network for handling mobility of a user equipment (UE) that is in operative communication with a wireless access node of the wireless network, the core network including one or more peer core network nodes and a global network node, wherein each of the one or more peer core network nodes of the core network is in operative communication with the global network node of the core network, wherein the access network includes a plurality of wireless access network nodes each being configured for wireless communication with the UE, the method comprising:

obtaining by the first peer core network node from the global network node and/or from a further peer core network node of the core network a first capability identification (ID) identifying a first set of UE capabilities associated with the UE;

transmitting by the first peer core network node, to a central global database of a global network node of the core network in operative communication with the wireless network node, a request message based on the first capability ID and filter information associated with supported capabilities of the access node to obtain UE capabilities for the UE;

receiving by the first peer core network node, from the central global database, a filtered set of capabilities based on the first capability ID and the filter information;

transmitting by the first peer core network node the filtered set of capabilities to the wireless access node;

detecting by the first peer core network node an ID change trigger indicating a second capability ID based on the UE registering with a first wireless access network node of the plurality of wireless access network nodes, the first wireless access network node being in operative communicate on with the first peer core network node, the second capability ID identifying a set of UE capabilities supported by the first wireless access network node, wherein the detecting the ID change trigger comprises receiving from the global network node and/or from one or more peer core network nodes other than the first peer core network node an ID configuration message that indicates the first capability ID as an alternate identification of the set of UE capabilities supported by the first wireless access network node; and

changing by the first peer core network node, responsive to the detecting the ID change trigger, identification in the first peer core network node of the set of UE supported capabilities from the second capability ID indicated based on the UE registering with the first wireless access network node to the first capability ID.

Assignments (3)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (22)