IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,574,717
Granted Patent B2
US 12,574,717 · App. 18/449,108 · Granted Mar 10, 2026

Facilitating visited network selection by a user equipment based on slice considerations

Inventors: Srinath Gundavelli (San Jose, CA); Vimal Srivastava (Bangalore, IN)
Assignee: CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC.
H04W8/06H04W60/06H04W76/10
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,574,717
App. No.
18/449,108
Granted
Mar 10, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Presented herein are techniques to facilitate visited network selection by a user equipment (UE) based on slice considerations. In one example, a method may include requesting, by a UE that is roaming among a plurality of visited mobile networks, registration for a network connection associated with a slice type; obtaining, by the UE from home mobile network for the UE, a priority for each of the plurality of visited mobile networks and an indication of one or more slice types provided by each of the plurality of visited mobile networks; selecting, by the UE, a highest priority visited mobile network of the plurality of visited mobile networks that provides the slice type; and establishing, by the UE, the network connection with the highest priority visited mobile network of the plurality of visited mobile networks that provides the slice type.

Claims (40)

1 . A method comprising:

requesting, by a user equipment that is roaming among a plurality of visited mobile networks, registration with a first visited mobile network of the plurality of visited mobile networks for a network connection associated with a slice type;

obtaining, by the user equipment from a home mobile network for the user equipment via the first visited mobile network, a priority for each of the plurality of visited mobile networks and an indication of one or more slice types provided by each of the plurality of visited mobile networks, wherein the obtaining comprises obtaining the priority for each of the plurality of visited mobile networks from a 3GPP Unified Data Management (UDM) entity of the home mobile network for the user equipment and obtaining the indication of the one or more slice types provided by each of the plurality of visited mobile networks from a 3GPP Policy Control Function (PCF) of the home mobile network for the user equipment;

selecting, by the user equipment, based on the obtained priority for each of the plurality of visited mobile networks and the obtained indication of the one or more slice types provided by each of the plurality of visited mobile networks, a highest priority visited mobile network of the plurality of visited mobile networks that provides the slice type, wherein the selecting includes correlating the priority for each of the plurality of visited mobile networks obtained from the 3GPP UDM entity with the indication of the one or more slice types provided by each of the plurality of visited mobile networks obtained from the 3GPP PCF to select the highest priority visited mobile network of the plurality that provides the slice type; and

establishing, by the user equipment, the network connection with the highest priority visited mobile network of the plurality of visited mobile networks that provides the slice type.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the highest priority visited mobile network that provides the slice type is a second visited mobile network that is different than the first visited mobile network.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

performing, by the user equipment, de-registration with the first visited mobile network; and

performing a registration procedure with the second visited mobile network to establish the network connection.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the highest priority mobile network that provides the slice type is the first visited mobile network, wherein the network connection is established with the first visited mobile network.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the priority for each of the plurality of visited mobile networks is associated with a time factor.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the time factor indicates a time of day or one or more time of day ranges.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the selecting is based further on a time at which the user requests the registration for the network connection.

8 . One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, comprising:

requesting, by a user equipment that is roaming among a plurality of visited mobile networks, registration with a first visited mobile network of the plurality of visited mobile networks for a network connection associated with a slice type;

obtaining, by the user equipment from a home mobile network for the user equipment via the first visited mobile network, a priority for each of the plurality of visited mobile networks and an indication of one or more slice types provided by each of the plurality of visited mobile networks, wherein the obtaining comprises obtaining the priority for each of the plurality of visited mobile networks from a 3GPP Unified Data Management (UDM) entity of the home mobile network for the user equipment and obtaining the indication of the one or more slice types provided by each of the plurality of visited mobile networks from a 3GPP Policy Control Function (PCF) of the home mobile network for the user equipment;

selecting, by the user equipment, based on the obtained priority for each of the plurality of visited mobile networks and the obtained indication of the one or more slice types provided by each of the plurality of visited mobile networks, a highest priority visited mobile network of the plurality of visited mobile networks that provides the slice type, wherein the selecting includes correlating the priority for each of the plurality of visited mobile networks obtained from the 3GPP UDM entity with the indication of the one or more slice types provided by each of the plurality of visited mobile networks obtained from the 3GPP PCF to select the highest priority visited mobile network of the plurality that provides the slice type; and

establishing, by the user equipment, the network connection with the highest priority visited mobile network of the plurality of visited mobile networks that provides the slice type.

9 . The media of claim 8 , wherein the highest priority visited mobile network that provides the slice type is a second visited mobile network that is different than the first visited mobile network.

10 . The media of claim 9 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform further operations, comprising:

performing, by the user equipment, de-registration with the first visited mobile network; and

performing a registration procedure with the second visited mobile network to establish the network connection.

11 . The media of claim 8 , wherein the highest priority mobile network that provides the slice type is the first visited mobile network, wherein the network connection is established with the first visited mobile network.

12 . The media of claim 8 , wherein the priority for each of the plurality of visited mobile networks is associated with a time factor and the selecting is based further on a time at which the user requests the registration for the network connection.

13 . The media of claim 12 , wherein the time factor indicates a time of day or one or more time of day ranges.

14 . A user equipment comprising:

at least one memory element for storing data; and

at least one processor for executing instructions associated with the data, wherein executing the instructions causes the user equipment to perform operations, comprising:

requesting, by the user equipment that is roaming among a plurality of visited mobile networks, registration with a first visited mobile network of the plurality of visited mobile networks for a network connection associated with a slice type;

obtaining, by the user equipment from a home mobile network for the user equipment via the first mobile network, a priority for each of the plurality of visited mobile networks and an indication of one or more slice types provided by each of the plurality of visited mobile networks, wherein the obtaining comprises obtaining the priority for each of the plurality of visited mobile networks from a 3GPP Unified Data Management (UDM) entity of the home mobile network for the user equipment and obtaining the indication of the one or more slice types provided by each of the plurality of visited mobile networks from a 3GPP Policy Control Function (PCF) of the home mobile network for the user equipment;

selecting, by the user equipment, based on the obtained priority for each of the plurality of visited mobile networks and the obtained indication of the one or more slice types provided by each of the plurality of visited mobile networks, a highest priority visited mobile network of the plurality of visited mobile networks that provides the slice type, wherein the selecting includes correlating the priority for each of the plurality of visited mobile networks obtained from the 3GPP UDM entity with the indication of the one or more slice types provided by each of the plurality of visited mobile networks obtained from the 3GPP PCF to select the highest priority visited mobile network of the plurality that provides the slice type; and

establishing, by the user equipment, the network connection with the highest priority visited mobile network of the plurality of visited mobile networks that provides the slice type.

15 . The user equipment of claim 14 , wherein the highest priority visited mobile network that provides the slice type is a second visited mobile network that is different than the first visited mobile network.

16 . The user equipment of claim 15 , wherein executing the instructions causes the user equipment to perform further operations, comprising:

performing, by the user equipment, de-registration with the first visited mobile network; and

performing a registration procedure with the second visited mobile network to establish the network connection.

17 . The user equipment of claim 14 , wherein the highest priority mobile network that provides the slice type is the first visited mobile network, wherein the network connection is established with the first visited mobile network.

18 . The user equipment of claim 14 , wherein the priority for each of the plurality of visited mobile networks is associated with a time factor.

19 . The user equipment of claim 18 , wherein the time factor indicates a time of day or one or more time of day ranges.

20 . The user equipment of claim 19 , where the selecting is based further on a time at which the user requests the registration for the network connection.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 14, 2023
From: GUNDAVELLI, SRINATH; SRIVASTAVA, VIMAL
To: CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Reel/Frame 064577/0898 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation 17403414 · Aug 16, 2021
Related Publication 20230388773A1 · Nov 30, 2023
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