Creating a network slice selection policy rule

1. An apparatus comprising:

a transceiver that communicates with one or more network functions in a mobile communication network that supports multiple network slices, each one associated with one or more network slice identifiers;

a processor that:

receives a first request from a network function, the first request comprising a list of one or more application identifiers and for each application identifier a corresponding application profile;

identifies a corresponding application provider for each application identifier in the list, wherein the corresponding application provider is identified based on one of: contents of the first request and an application provider exclusively associated with the network function;

determines one or more network slice identifiers associated with each application identifier in the list of application identifiers based on the corresponding application profile and the corresponding application provider of the application identifier; and

creates a network slice section policy (“NSSP”) rule for each application identifier in the list of application identifiers, the NSSP rule containing the application identifier and the associated one or more network slice identifiers.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first request includes an identity of one more remote units affected by the first request.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the identity of one more remote units affected by the first request is selected from the group consisting of: a single user equipment (“UE”) identifier, a list of multiple UE identifiers, and a UE group identity.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processor updates a NSSP of each of the one more remote units affected by the first request.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor further updates a NSSP for a remote unit in the mobile communication network based on the associated one or more network slice identifiers, the NSSP for the remote unit comprising one or more rules for associating an application identifier with one or more subscribed single network slice selection assistance information (“S-NSSAIs”).

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the associated one or more network slice identifiers are one or more S-NSSAIs and wherein updating the NSSP for the remote unit comprises the processor:

determining whether the associated one or more S-NSSAIs match the one or more subscribed S-NSSAIs in the NSSP; and

adding an S-NSSAI of the associated one or more S-NSSAIs to the one or more subscribed S-NSSAIs in response to the S-NSSAI not matching the one or more subscribed S-NSSAIs in the NSSP.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein updating the NSSP for the remote unit further comprises the processor creating one or more new NSSP rules in response to adding an S-NSSAI of the associated one or more S-NSSAIs to the one or more subscribed S-NSSAIs.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein updating the NSSP for the remote unit further comprises the processor initiating a subscription data update procedure in response to adding an S-NSSAI of the associated one or more S-NSSAIs to the one or more subscribed S-NSSAIs.

9. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein updating the NSSP for the remote unit comprises the processor identifying a policy control function (“PCF”) subscribed to receive policy updates for the remote unit and notifying the PCF to receive a policy update for the remote unit.

10. A method comprising:

receiving a first request from a network function, the first request comprising a list of application identifiers and for each application identifier a corresponding application profile;

identifying a corresponding application provider for each application identifier in the list, wherein the corresponding application provider is identified based on one of: contents of the first request and an application provider exclusively associated with the network function;

determining one or more network slice identifiers associated with each application identifier in the list of application identifiers based on the corresponding application profile and on the corresponding application provider of the application identifier; and

creating a network slice section policy (“NSSP”) rule for each application identifier in the list of application identifiers, the NSSP rule containing the application identifier and the associated one or more network slice identifiers.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first request includes an indication of one more remote units affected by the first request.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising updating a NSSP for a remote unit in the mobile communication network based on the associated one or more network slice identifiers, the NSSP for the remote unit comprising one or more rules for associating an application identifier with one or more subscribed single network slice selection assistance information (“S-NSSAIs”).

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the associated one or more network slice identifiers are one or more S-NSSAIs and wherein updating the NSSP for the remote unit comprises:

determining whether the associated one or more S-NSSAIs match the one or more subscribed S-NSSAIs in the NSSP; and

adding an S-NSSAI of the associated one or more S-NSSAIs to the one or more subscribed S-NSSAIs in response to the S-NSSAI not matching the one or more subscribed S-NSSAIs in the NSSP.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein updating the NS SP for the remote unit comprises identifying a policy control function (“PCF”) subscribed to receive policy updates for the remote unit and notifying the PCF to receive a policy update for the remote unit.

15. A system comprising:

a network exposure function (“NEF”) for a mobile communication network; and

a unified data management (“UDM”) node that:

receives a first request from the NEF, wherein the first request comprises a set of one or more application identifiers and, for each application identifier, a corresponding application profile;

identifies a corresponding application provider for each application identifier in the list, wherein the corresponding application provider is identified based on one of: contents of the first request and an application provider exclusively associated with the network function;

determines one or more network slice identifiers associated with each identified application based on the corresponding application profile and on the corresponding application provider of each application identifier; and

creates a network slice section policy (“NSSP”) rule for each application identifier in the set of one or more application identifiers, the NSSP rule containing the application identifier and the associated one or more network slice identifiers.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the NEF receives a request to set an application profile from an application function associated with the application provider, wherein the request to set an application profile includes the set of one or more application identifiers, the corresponding application profile, and the corresponding application provider.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the application profile maps to one of an application type and a traffic characteristic of an application supported by the application function.

18. The system of claim 15 , further comprising a plurality of remote units, wherein the UDM node identifies one or more of the plurality of remote units affected by the first request, wherein the UDM node updates a NSSP for each affected remote unit based on the associated one or more network slice identifiers.

19. The system of claim 18 , further comprising one or more policy control functions (“PCFs”) subscribed to receive policy updates for the affected one or more remote units, wherein the UDM node notifies the PCF to receive a policy update for the remote unit in response to updating the NSSP for each affected remote unit.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the one or more PCFs forward the updated NSSP to the affected one or more remote units.