Granted Patent B2

US 12,402,003 · App. 18/010,641 · Granted Aug 26, 2025

Inventors: Roozbeh Atarius (La Jolla, CA); Apostolis Salkintzis (Athens, GR); Andreas Kunz (Ladenburg, DE); Sheeba Backia Mary Baskaran (Friedrichsdorf, DE)

Assignee: Lenovo (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

H04W12/062H04L9/3239H04W12/033

Abstract

Claims (57)

1. A user equipment (“UE”) comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the processor configured to cause UE to:

determine whether an identity pseudonym is preconfigured;

send a registration message to a first network function in a mobile communication network via a Third Generation Partnership Project (“3GPP”) access network, the registration message comprising a first indicator and a subscription concealed identifier (“SUCI”) for the UE, wherein the first indicator comprises an indication that the UE has a capability for access authentication for non-3GPP access in an evolved packet system (“EPS”), and wherein the processor is configured to cause the UE to include the first indicator in response to determining that no identity pseudonym is preconfigured;

receive a first identity pseudonym for the UE apparatus in response to the registration message comprising the first indicator; and

perform access authentication via a non-3GPP access network using the first identity pseudonym.

2. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the first identity pseudonym is a one-time token for communicating a subscriber permanent identifier (“SUPI”) of the UE in a concealed manner.

3. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the indication comprises a fifth generation mobility management (“5GMM”) capability information element.

4. The UE of claim 1 , wherein, to perform access authentication via the non-3GPP access network using the first identity pseudonym, the processor is configured to:

send a first authentication message to a second network function to authenticate with the mobile communication network via the non-3GPP access network, the first authentication message comprising the first identity pseudonym;

receive a second authentication message from the second network function in response to the first authentication message, the second authentication message comprising a challenge packet and a second identity pseudonym,

complete authentication with the mobile communication network using the challenge packet; and

locally store the second identity pseudonym.

5. The UE of claim 4 , wherein the second network function comprises an authentication, authorization, and accounting (“AAA”) server in the mobile communication network, and wherein, to locally store the second identity pseudonym, the processor is configured to replace the first identity pseudonym with the second identity pseudonym.

6. A unified data management (“UDM”) comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the processor configured to cause the UDM to:

receive a registration request from a user equipment (“UE”), wherein the registration request contains a first indicator and a subscription concealed identifier (“SUCI”) for the UE;

acquire an identity pseudonym for the UE in response to receiving the first indicator, wherein the identity pseudonym is usable to authenticate the UE for non-3GPP access in an evolved packet system (“EPS”);

store a mapping of the identity pseudonym to a subscriber identity of the UE;

initiate a UE parameter update (“UPU”) procedure; and

send the identity pseudonym to the UE within UPU data.

7. The UDM of claim 6 , wherein the first indicator comprises an indication that the UE has a capability for access authentication for non-3GPP access in an evolved packet system (“EPS”) and a subscriber identity of the UE.

8. The UDM apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the indication comprises a fifth generation mobility management (“5GMM”) capability information element.

9. The UDM of claim 6 , wherein the identity pseudonym comprises a one-time token for communicating a subscriber permanent identifier (“SUPI”) of the UE in a concealed manner.

10. The UDM of claim 6 , wherein, to acquire the identity pseudonym, the processor is configured to create the identity pseudonym using:

a subscriber permanent identifier (“SUPI”) of the UE,

an international mobile subscriber identity (“IMSI”),

or a combination thereof.

11. The UDM of claim 6 , wherein, to acquire the identity pseudonym, the processor is configured to:

encrypt the subscriber identity,

generate a unique value using a random number generator and the subscriber identity, and

generate a hash value using a hash function and the subscriber identity,

or a combination thereof.

12. The UDM of claim 6 , wherein, to acquire the identity pseudonym, the processor is configured to send the subscriber identity to one of: a Home Subscriber Server (“HSS”) or an authentication server in a mobile communication network and receiving the identity pseudonym from the one of a HSS and an authentication server.

13. The UDM of claim 6 , wherein, to store the mapping of the identity pseudonym to a subscriber permanent identifier (“SUPI”) of the UE, the processor is configured to send the identity pseudonym to a Home Subscriber Server (“HSS”) in a mobile communication network.

14. The UDM of claim 9 , wherein, to send the identity pseudonym to the UE, the processor is configured to:

send the identity pseudonym in a registration accept message.

15. An authentication, authorization, and accounting (“AAA”) server comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the processor configured to cause the AAA server to:

receive a first authentication message to authenticate a user equipment (“UE”) with a mobile communication network via a non-3GPP access network, the first authentication message comprising a first identity pseudonym for the UE, wherein the first identity pseudonym is received by the UE during a previous registration with the mobile communication network via a Third Generation Partnership Project (“3GPP”) access network;

retrieve an authentication vector for the first identity pseudonym;

create a second identity pseudonym for the UE;

store the second identity pseudonym in the mobile communication network;

forward the second identity pseudonym to a home subscriber server (“HSS”);

send a second authentication message to the UE, the second authentication message comprising the second identity pseudonym and a challenge packet derived from the authentication vector; and

complete authentication with the UE.

16. The AAA server of claim 15 , wherein the first identity pseudonym and second identity pseudonym are each one-time tokens for communicating a subscriber permanent identifier (“SUPI”) of the UE in a concealed manner, wherein the first and second identity pseudonyms are mapped to the SUPI of the UE, wherein, to store the second identity pseudonym, the processor is configured to replace the first identity pseudonym with the second identity pseudonym.

17. The AAA server of claim 15 , wherein, to retrieve the authentication vector, the processor is configured to cause the AAA server to send the first identity pseudonym to the HSS in the mobile communication network and receive a subscriber permanent identifier (“SUPI”) of the UE, wherein the HSS stores a mapping of the first identity pseudonym to the SUPI of the UE, and wherein, to store the second identity pseudonym, the processor is configured to cause the AAA server to send the second identity pseudonym to the HSS.

18. The AAA server of claim 15 , wherein the second identity pseudonym is created using at least one of: a subscriber permanent identifier of the UE and an international mobile subscriber identity.

19. The AAA server of claim 15 , wherein, to create the second identity pseudonym, the processor is configured to:

encrypt a subscriber permanent identifier (“SUPI”) of the UE,

generate a unique value using a random number generator and the SUPI of the UE,

generate a hash value using a hash function and the SUPI of the UE,

or a combination thereof.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (18)