IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,660,025
Granted Patent B2
US 12,660,025 · App. 18/247,254 · Granted Jun 16, 2026

Disabling a pending NSSAI

Inventors: Genadi Velev (Darmstadt, DE); Roozbeh Atarius (La Jolla, CA)
Assignee: Lenovo (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.
H04W76/19H04W48/18H04W60/04H04W76/18
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,660,025
App. No.
18/247,254
Granted
Jun 16, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Apparatuses, methods, and systems are disclosed for disabling a pending NSSAI. One method includes receiving, from a lower layer, a first indication of a radio link failure event, wherein the radio link failure event occurs during an authentication procedure of a network slice, and wherein the radio link failure event corresponds to unavailable cell coverage and disabling a pending NSSAI associated with network slice based at least in part on the radio link failure event. The method includes receiving, from the lower layer and after disabling the pending NSSAI, a second indication indicating available cell coverage and transmitting a registration request for the network slice in response to the available cell coverage, wherein the registration request comprises a requested NSSAI, and wherein the request NSSAI comprises a S-NSSAI associated with the pending NSSAI.

Claims (56)

1 . A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled with the memory and configured to cause the UE to:

receive, from a lower layer, a first indication of a radio link failure trigger, wherein the radio link failure trigger occurs during an authentication of a network slice, and wherein the radio link failure trigger corresponds to unavailable cell coverage;

disable a pending network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) associated with the network slice based at least in part on the radio link failure trigger;

receive, from the lower layer and after disabling the pending NSSAI, a second indication indicating available cell coverage; and

transmit a registration request for the network slice in response to the available cell coverage, wherein the registration request comprises a requested NSSAI, and wherein the requested NSSAI comprises one or more single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) associated with the pending NSSAI.

2 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the requested NSSAI further comprises one or more S-NSSAI associated with a configured NSSAI, an allowed NSSAI, a rejected NSSAI, or any combination thereof.

3 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the UE to:

perform a network slice-specific authentication and authorization (NSSAA) procedure, and wherein the processor is configured to cause the UE to:

initiate a timer in response to the first indication of the radio link failure trigger; and

disable the pending NSSAI in response to an expiration of the timer.

4 . The UE of claim 3 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the UE to:

receive a registration accept message prior to performing the NSSAA procedure,

wherein the registration accept message comprises the pending NSSAI, an indication to perform the NSSAA, or an NSSAA parameter, or any combination thereof, and

wherein a value of the timer is indicated by the NSSAA parameter.

5 . The UE of claim 3 , further comprising:

a universal subscriber identity module (USIM) configured to store a value of the timer.

6 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein to disable the pending NSSAI, the processor is configured to cause the UE to:

clear a state associated with a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) of the pending NSSAI;

delete the pending NSSAI; or

mark the S-NSSAI as expired without deletion of the pending NSSAI.

7 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein to receive, from the lower layer, the second indication indicating the available cell coverage is based at least in part on a subscription to the lower layer.

8 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein to disable the pending NSSAI, the processor is configured to cause the UE to refrain from updating an allowed NSSAI.

9 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein to disable the pending NSSAI, the processor is configured to cause the UE to update a rejected NSSAI to include the pending NSSAI.

10 . A method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

receiving, from a lower layer, a first indication of a radio link failure trigger, wherein the radio link failure trigger occurs during an authentication procedure of a network slice, and wherein the radio link failure trigger corresponds to unavailable cell coverage;

disabling a pending network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) associated with network slice based at least in part on the radio link failure trigger; and

receiving, from the lower layer and after disabling the pending NSSAI, a second indication indicating available cell coverage; and

transmitting a registration request for the network slice in response to the available cell coverage, wherein the registration request comprises a requested NSSAI, and wherein the request NSSAI comprises a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) associated with the pending NSSAI.

11 . An access and mobility management function (AMF) apparatus comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled with the memory and configured to cause the AMF apparatus to:

receive, from a base station, an indication of a radio link failure trigger associated with a user equipment (UE), wherein the radio link failure trigger occurs during an authentication procedure of a network slice;

disable a pending network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) associated with the network slice based at least in part on the radio link failure trigger; and

receive, from the UE and after disabling the pending NSSAI, a registration request for the network slice, where the registration request comprises a requested NSSAI, and wherein the request NSSAI comprises a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) associated with the pending NSSAI.

12 . The AMF apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the AMF apparatus to:

perform a network slice-specific authentication and authorization (NSSAA) procedure, and wherein the processor is configured to cause the AMF apparatus to:

initiate a timer in response to the first indication of the radio link failure trigger; and

disable the pending NSSAI in response to an expiration of the timer.

13 . The AMF apparatus of claim 12 , wherein instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the AMF apparatus to determine a value of the timer based on a total transmission number of NSSAA command/result messages and a length of a re-transmission timer.

14 . The AMF apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the value of the timer is greater than or equal to a product of the total transmission number of NSSAA command/result messages multiplied by the length of the re-transmission timer.

15 . The AMF apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the value of the timer is greater than or equal to a product of the total transmission number of NSSAA command/result messages multiplied by the length of the re-transmission timer, less a time for determining radio link failure.

16 . The AMF apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the AMF apparatus to transmit a registration accept message prior to performing the NSSAA procedure, wherein the registration accept message comprises the pending NSSAI, an NSSAA parameter, or both, and wherein a value of the timer is indicated by the NSSAA parameter.

17 . The AMF apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the requested NSSAI further comprises one or more S-NSSAI associated with a configured NSSAI, an allowed NSSAI, a rejected NSSAI, or any combination thereof.

18 . The AMF apparatus of claim 11 , wherein to disable the pending NSSAI, the processor is configured to cause the AMF apparatus to:

delete the pending NSSAI; or

mark a S-NSSAI of the pending NSSAI as expired without deleting the pending NSSAI.

19 . The AMF apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the AMF apparatus to:

perform an extensible authentication protocol (“EAP”) procedure for network slice-specific authentication and authorization (NSSAA);

receive an EAP result of the authentication procedure; and

store the EAP result in response to disabling the pending NSSAI.

20 . The AMF apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the AMF apparatus to:

perform an extensible authentication protocol (“EAP”) procedure for network slice-specific authentication and authorization (NSSAA), wherein the AMF apparatus does not receive an EAP result of the authentication procedure prior to receiving the indication of the radio link failure trigger;

transmit, to an authentication server, a failure message comprising a failure cause value based at least in part on the indication of the radio link failure trigger; and

terminate the EAP procedure for NSSAA.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 13, 2023
From: VELEV, GENADI; ATARIUS, ROOZBEH
To: LENOVO (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD.
Reel/Frame 063317/0270 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63085054 · Sep 29, 2020
Related Publication 20230413360A1 · Dec 21, 2023
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