Device and method of handling authentication procedure

1. A network comprising a cellular network and a wireless local area network (WLAN) for handling an authentication procedure with a communication device, comprising:

a storage device, for storing instructions of:

performing a first connection to the communication device by the cellular network;

performing a second connection to the communication device by the WLAN;

initiating an extensible authentication protocol (EAP) authentication and key agreement (AKA) procedure to the communication device by the WLAN, if the communication device is not configured with a communication of cellular protocol data units (PDUs) via the WLAN; and

initiating a base station (BS) assisted authentication procedure to the communication device by the cellular network for the communication device to generate a Pairwise Master Key (PMK), if the communication device is connected to both the cellular network and the WLAN and is configured with the communication of the cellular PDUs via the WLAN; and

a processing circuit, coupled to the storage device, configured to execute the instructions stored in the storage device.

2. The network of claim 1 , wherein the cellular PDUs comprises a plurality of long-term evolution (LTE) or fifth generation (5G) media access control (MAC) PDUs, a plurality of LTE or 5G radio link control (RLC) PDUs, a plurality of LTE or 5G packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) PDUs, or a plurality of new LTE or 5G PDUs defined for a communication via the WLAN.

3. The network of claim 1 , wherein the communication device is configured with the communication of the cellular PDUs via the WLAN, if the cellular network transmits a configuration message to the communication device for configuring the communication of the cellular PDUs via the WLAN to the communication device.

4. The network of claim 1 , wherein the storage device further stores instructions of:

determining to configure the communication of the cellular PDUs via the WLAN to the communication device by the cellular network; and

transmitting a message for initiating a configuration of the communication of the cellular PDUs via the WLAN for the communication device by the cellular network in response to the determination.

5. The network of claim 4 , wherein the WLAN initiates the EAP AKA procedure to the communication device, before the cellular network configures the communication of the cellular PDUs via the WLAN.

6. The network of claim 4 , wherein the WLAN initiates the EAP AKA procedure to the communication device, if the message does not comprise a shared PMK or indicates not to perform the BS assisted authentication procedure.

7. The network of claim 4 , wherein the message comprises a MAC address of the communication device; the WLAN stores the MAC address of the communication device; the cellular network receives the MAC address in a MAC PDU or a radio resource control (RRC) message from the communication device; and the communication device uses the MAC address for a transmission and/or a reception of a plurality of 802.11 frames.

8. The network of claim 7 , wherein the WLAN identifies the communication device with the stored MAC address and determines not to initiates the EAP AKA procedure, when the WLAN receives one of the plurality of 802.11 frames comprising the MAC address transmitted from the communication device.

9. A communication device for handling an authentication procedure with a network comprising a cellular network and a wireless local area network (WLAN), comprising:

a storage device, for storing instructions of:

performing a first connection to a base station (BS) of the cellular network;

performing a second connection to the WLAN;

performing an extensible authentication protocol (EAP) authentication and key agreement (AKA) procedure with the WLAN, if the communication device is not configured with a communication of cellular protocol data units (PDUs) via the WLAN; and

performing a BS assisted authentication procedure with the BS for the communication device to generate a Pairwise Master Key (PMK), if the communication device is connected to both the cellular network and the WLAN and is configured with the communication of the cellular PDUs via the WLAN; and

a processing circuit means, coupled to the storage device, configured to execute the instructions stored in the storage device.

10. The communication device of claim 9 , wherein the cellular PDUs comprises a plurality of long-term evolution (LTE) or fifth generation (5G) media access control (MAC) PDUs, a plurality of LTE or 5G radio link control (RLC) PDUs, a plurality of LTE or 5G packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) PDUs, or a plurality of new LTE or 5G PDUs defined for a communication via the WLAN.

11. The communication device of claim 9 , wherein the communication device is configured with the communication of the cellular PDUs via the WLAN by the cellular network, if the communication device receives a configuration message for configuring the communication of the cellular PDUs via the WLAN from the cellular network.

12. The communication device of claim 11 , wherein the configuration message comprises a WLAN configuration comprising a service set identifier (SSID) of the WLAN, a basic SSID (BSSID) of the WLAN, an extended SSID (ESSID) of the WLAN and/or a homogeneous ESSID (HESSID) of the WLAN.

13. The communication device of claim 11 , wherein the instruction of performing the BS assisted authentication procedure with the BS, if the communication device is configured with the communication of the cellular PDUs via the WLAN comprises:

performing the BS assisted authentication procedure with the BS, if the communication device is configured with the communication of the cellular PDUs via the WLAN and the configuration message comprises a configuration for the communication device to perform the BS assisted authentication procedure.

14. The communication device of claim 9 , wherein the instruction of performing the EAP AKA procedure with the WLAN comprises:

transmitting a message to the WLAN to initiate the EAP AKA procedure.

15. The communication device of claim 14 , wherein the instruction of performing the BS assisted authentication procedure with the BS comprises:

not transmitting the message to the WLAN to not initiate the EAP AKA procedure.