Methods and apparatus for provisioning private network devices during onboarding
A method for operating a user equipment (UE) includes transmitting, by the UE, a registration request message to establish a connection for onboarding, the registration message comprising an onboarding and provisioning indication information; and completing, by the UE with a network entity, provisioning in accordance with the onboarding and provisioning indication information.
1 . A method comprising:
transmitting, by a user equipment (UE), a registration request message to establish a connection for onboarding, the registration request message comprising onboarding and provisioning indication information and a temporary identifier for the UE, wherein the temporary identifier for the UE is used for onboarding, the onboarding and provisioning indication information comprising at least one of an indication indicating the connection is for the onboarding and provisioning, or a provisioning method indication indicating a provisioning method preferred or supported by the UE, the provisioning method indication indicating user plane (UP) based remote provisioning; and
completing, by the UE with a network entity, provisioning in response to transmitting the registration request message with the onboarding and provisioning indication information and the temporary identifier for the UE, the completing the provisioning comprising:
determining, by the UE, an expiration of a timer associated with control plane (CP) based provisioning without having received a third control message including provisioning information;
establishing, by the UE, a protocol data unit (PDU) session for the provisioning; and
receiving, by the UE from a provisioning server (PS), the provisioning information.
2 . The method of claim 1 , the provisioning method indication further indicating CP based remote provisioning.
3 . The method of claim 2 , the provisioning method indication indicating the CP based remote provisioning, and the completing the provisioning comprises:
receiving, by the UE from the network entity, provisioning information in a first control message.
4 . The method of claim 1 , the provisioning method indication indicating the provisioning method preferred by the UE, the method further comprising:
receiving, by the UE from the network entity, a second control message indicating the provisioning method that will be used for provisioning, and the completing the provisioning comprising:
completing the provisioning in accordance with the provisioning method indicated by the second control message.
5 . The method of claim 1 , the registration request message further comprises an onboarding method capability indication for the UE, the onboarding method capability indication indicating a provisioning method supported by the UE.
6 . The method of claim 5 , the temporary identifier comprising at least one of a sequence number from a range assigned to a service provider associated with the UE, an identifier of the service provider owning a subscription of the UE, or a secret mark value determined in accordance with a credential used for onboarding for the UE.
7 . The method of claim 6 , the secret mark value being provided by the service provider owning the subscription of the UE.
8 . The method of claim 1 , the network entity comprising an access and mobility management function (AMF).
9 . The method of claim 1 , the onboarding and provisioning indication information comprising a PS address or a provisioning domain name.
10 . The method of claim 9 , the onboarding and provisioning indication information implicitly indicating a provisioning method supported by the UE.
11 . A method comprising:
receiving, by a network entity from a user equipment (UE), a registration request message to establish a connection for onboarding, the registration request message comprising an onboarding and provisioning indication information and a temporary identifier for the UE, wherein the temporary identifier for the UE is used for onboarding, the onboarding and provisioning indication information comprising at least one of an indication indicating the connection is for the onboarding and provisioning, or a provisioning method indication indicating a provisioning method preferred or supported by the UE, the provisioning method indication indicating user plane (UP) based remote provisioning;
retrieving, by the network entity, a network configuration profile associated with the UE; and
completing, by the network entity with the UE, provisioning of the UE in response to transmitting the registration request message the network configuration profile and the onboarding and provisioning indication information and the temporary identifier for the UE, wherein the UE determines an expiration of a timer associated with control plane (CP) based provisioning without having received a third control message including provisioning information, establishes a protocol data unit (PDU) session for the provisioning, and receives, from a provisioning server (PS), the provisioning information.
12 . The method of claim 11 , the provisioning method further comprising CP based remote provisioning.
13 . The method of claim 11 , the provisioning method indication indicating that the connection is for the onboarding.
14 . The method of claim 11 , the network configuration profile comprising a user subscription profile or network configuration information used to configure the network entity for the onboarding and provisioning.
15 . The method of claim 11 , the network configuration profile comprising at least one of identifier information of a service provider owning a subscription of the UE, a provisioning method, a provisioning server address, a network slice for the onboarding and provisioning information, a PDU profile, or a selection criteria for another network entity associated with the onboarding and provisioning.
16 . The method of claim 15 , the PDU profile comprising at least one of quality of service (QoS) requirements or PDU session reusable information for after provisioning, the PDU session reusable information for after provisioning including an indication if a PDU session can be reused after the onboarding, or a waiting time to terminate the PDU session after the provisioning completes.
17 . The method of claim 15 , the selection criteria comprising an access and mobility management function (AMF) or (SMF) selection criteria.
18 . The method of claim 11 , the network configuration profile being retrieved from at least one of a unified data management (UDM) function, a default credential server, a policy configuration function (PCF), an operation support system (OSS), a network repository function (NRF), or another network entity providing network configuration and policy management.
19 . The method of claim 11 , the onboarding and provisioning indication information comprising a PS address or a provisioning domain name.
20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
determining a provisioning method supported by the UE in accordance with the onboarding and provisioning indication information.
21 . A user equipment (UE) comprising:
one or more processors; and
a non-transitory memory storage comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the UE to perform operations including:
transmitting a registration request message to establish a connection for onboarding, the registration request message comprising onboarding and provisioning indication information and a temporary identifier for the UE, wherein the temporary identifier for the UE is used for onboarding, the onboarding and provisioning indication information comprising at least one of an indication indicating the connection is for the onboarding and provisioning, or a provisioning method indication indicating a provisioning method preferred or supported by the UE, the provisioning method indication indicating user plane (UP) based remote provisioning; and
completing, with a network entity, provisioning in response to transmitting the registration request message with the onboarding and provisioning indication information and the temporary identifier for the UE, the completing the provisioning comprising:
determining an expiration of a timer associated with control plane (CP) based provisioning without having received a third control message including provisioning information;
establishing a protocol data unit (PDU) session for the provisioning; and
receiving, from a provisioning server (PS), the provisioning information.
22 . A network entity comprising:
one or more processors; and
a non-transitory memory storage comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the network entity to perform operations including:
receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a registration request message to establish a connection for onboarding, the registration request message comprising an onboarding and provisioning indication information and a temporary identifier for the UE, wherein the temporary identifier for the UE is used for onboarding, the onboarding and provisioning indication information comprising at least one of an indication indicating the connection is for the onboarding and provisioning, or a provisioning method indication indicating a provisioning method preferred or supported by the UE, the provisioning method indication indicating user plane (UP) based remote provisioning;
retrieving a network configuration profile associated with the UE; and
completing, with the UE, provisioning of the UE in response to transmitting the registration request message with the network configuration profile and the onboarding and provisioning indication information and the temporary identifier for the UE, wherein the UE determines an expiration of a timer associated with control plane (CP) based provisioning without having received a third control message including provisioning information, establishes a protocol data unit (PDU) session for the provisioning, and receives, from a provisioning server (PS), the provisioning information.