Wireless communication device handovers between wireless communication network slices
A wireless network control system facilitates a handover of User Equipment (UE) from a source network slice to a target network slice. The source slice delivers an internet-access service to the UE using a Quality-of-Service level and access restrictions. The UE detects a handover trigger and exchanges handover signaling with the source network slice. A hardware-trust controller verifies a hardware identification code embedded in the UE responsive to the handover signaling. A distributed ledger generates a slice template to implement the QoS and access restrictions for the UE in the target network slice in response to the handover signaling and the hardware-trust verification. The signaling circuitry transfers the slice template to the target slice. The target slice delivers internet-access service to the UE using the QoS and the restrictions in response to the slice template.
1. A method of operating a wireless network control system to facilitate a handover of wireless User Equipment (UE) from a source wireless network slice to a target wireless network slice, the method comprising:
signaling circuitry exchanging handover signaling for the wireless UE with at least one of the source wireless network slice and the target wireless network slice, wherein the source wireless network slice delivers a wireless internet-access service to the wireless UE using an internet-access Quality-of-Service (QoS) level and an internet-access restriction;
responsive to the handover signaling, hardware-trust circuitry verifying a hardware identification code embedded in the UE;
responsive to the handover signaling and the hardware-trust verification, distributed ledger circuitry generating a slice template to implement the internet-access QoS level and the internet-access restriction in the target wireless network slice and recording handover metadata in a blockchain format; and
the signaling circuitry transferring the slice template to the target wireless network slice, wherein the target wireless network slice delivers the wireless internet-access service to the wireless UE using the internet-access QoS level and the internet-access restriction responsive to the slice template.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the source wireless network slice is in a home network for the wireless UE and the target wireless network slice is in a visited network for the wireless UE.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the source wireless network slice has a source slice Identifier (ID);
the handover signaling indicates the source slice ID;
the distributed ledger circuitry generating the slice template comprises translating the source slice ID into a target slice ID associated with the slice template.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the internet-access QoS comprises a bit-rate and a latency, and the internet-access restriction comprises filter criteria for a data content filter.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the slice template indicates a hardware-trust restriction for the wireless UE and further comprising the signaling circuitry transferring a hardware-trust certificate to the wireless UE responsive to the hardware-trust circuitry verifying the hardware identification code embedded in the UE and wherein the target wireless network slice receives and verifies the hardware-trust certificate from the wireless UE before delivering the wireless internet-access service to the wireless UE responsive to the slice template.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the slice template indicates a packet mark and wherein the wireless UE marks data packets with the packet mark to obtain the internet-access QoS from the target wireless network slice.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the slice template indicates User Plane Function (UPF) parameters for at least one of a policy interface (Gx), charging interface (Gy/Gz), internet interface (SGi), and Gateway Control-Plane (GW-C) interface.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein at least some of the wireless network control system comprises one or more Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) residing in Network Function Virtualization Infrastructures (NFVIs).
9. The method of claim 1 wherein at least some of the wireless network control system resides in Centralized Unit (CU) circuitry in a Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR) access node.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein at least some of the wireless network control system resides in Distributed Unit (DU) circuitry in a Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR) access node.
11. A wireless network control system to facilitate a handover of wireless User Equipment (UE) from a source wireless network slice to a target wireless network slice, the wireless network control system comprising:
signaling circuitry configured to exchange handover signaling for the wireless UE with at least one of the source wireless network slice and the target wireless network slice, wherein the source wireless network slice delivers a wireless internet-access service to the wireless UE using an internet-access Quality-of-Service (QoS) level and an internet-access restriction;
hardware-trust circuitry configured to verify a hardware identification code embedded in the UE responsive to the handover signaling;
distributed ledger circuitry configured to generate a slice template to implement the internet-access QoS level and the internet-access restriction in the target wireless network slice and record handover metadata in a blockchain format responsive to the handover signaling and the hardware-trust verification; and
the signaling circuitry configured to transfer the slice template to the target wireless network slice, wherein the target wireless network slice delivers the wireless internet-access service to the wireless UE using the internet-access QoS level and the internet-access restriction responsive to the slice template.
12. The wireless network control system of claim 11 wherein the source wireless network slice is in a home network for the wireless UE and the target wireless network slice is in a visited network for the wireless UE.
13. The wireless network control system of claim 11 wherein:
the source wireless network slice has a source slice Identifier (ID);
the handover signaling indicates the source slice ID;
the distributed ledger circuitry is configured to generate the slice template by translating the source slice ID into a target slice ID associated with the slice template.
14. The wireless network control system of claim 11 wherein the internet-access QoS comprises a bit-rate and a latency, and the internet-access restriction comprises filter criteria for a data content filter.
15. The wireless network control system of claim 11 wherein the slice template indicates a hardware-trust restriction for the wireless UE and further comprising the signaling circuitry configured to transfer a hardware-trust certificate to the wireless UE responsive to the hardware-trust circuitry verifying the hardware identification code embedded in the UE and wherein the target wireless network slice receives and verifies the hardware-trust certificate from the wireless UE before delivering the wireless internet-access service to the wireless UE responsive to the slice template.
16. The wireless network control system of claim 11 wherein the slice template indicates a packet mark and wherein the wireless UE marks data packets with the packet mark to obtain the internet-access QoS from the target wireless network slice.
17. The wireless network control system of claim 11 wherein the slice template indicates User Plane Function (UPF) parameters for at least one of a policy interface (Gx), charging interface (Gy/Gz), internet interface (SGi), and Gateway Control-Plane (GW-C) interface.
18. The wireless network control system of claim 11 wherein at least some of the wireless network control system comprises one or more Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) residing in Network Function Virtualization Infrastructures (NFVIs).
19. The wireless network control system of claim 11 wherein at least some of the wireless network control system resides in Centralized Unit (CU) circuitry in a Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR) access node.
20. The wireless network control system of claim 11 wherein at least some of the wireless network control system resides in Distributed Unit (DU) circuitry in a Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR) access node.