WO2020080308A1

WO2020080308A1 - Methods and apparatus for capability signaling in radio access network

Info

Publication number: WO2020080308A1
Application number: PCT/JP2019/040286
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kamel M. Shaheen
Original assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
Priority date: 2018-10-19
Filing date: 2019-10-11
Publication date: 2020-04-23

Abstract

A wireless terminal comprises processor circuitry and transceiver circuitry. The processor circuitry is configured, upon a change of capabilities of the wireless terminal, to generate a message which identifies changed capabilities rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal. The transmitter circuitry configured to transmit the message over an air interface to a network. Thus, the wireless terminal reports only the changed capabilities, e.g., only those UE capabilities that are added or removed as a result of the UE capabilities change, rather than an entire UE capabilities list.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR CAPABILITY SIGNALING IN RADIO ACCESS NETWORK

The technology relates to wireless communications, and particularly to radio access network architecture and operation.

A radio access network typically resides between wireless devices, such as user equipment (UEs), mobile phones, mobile stations, or any other device having wireless termination, and a core network. Example of radio access network types includes the GRAN, GSM radio access network; the GERAN, which includes EDGE packet radio services; UTRAN, the UMTS radio access network; E-UTRAN, which includes Long-Term Evolution; and g-UTRAN, the New Radio (NR) .

A radio access network may comprise one or more access nodes, such as base station nodes, which facilitate wireless communication or otherwise provides an interface between a wireless terminal and a telecommunications system. A non-limiting example of a base station can include, depending on radio access technology type, a Node B (“NB”), an enhanced Node B (“eNB”), a home eNB (“HeNB”), a gNB (for a New Radio [“NR”] technology system), or some other similar terminology.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (“3GPP”) is a group that, e.g., develops collaboration agreements such as 3GPP standards that aim to define globally applicable technical specifications and technical reports for wireless communication systems. Various 3GPP documents may describe certain aspects of radio access networks. Overall architecture for a fifth generation system, e.g., the 5G System, also called “NR” or “New Radio”, as well as “NG” or “Next Generation”, is shown in Fig. 1, and is also described in 3GPP TS 38.300. The 5G NR network is comprised of NG RAN (Next Generation Radio Access Network) and 5GC (5G Core Network). As shown, NGRAN is comprised of gNBs (e.g., 5G Base stations) and ng-eNBs (i.e. LTE base stations). An Xn interface exists between gNB-gNB, between (gNB)-(ng-eNB) and between (ng-eNB)-(ng-eNB). The Xn is the network interface between NG-RAN nodes. Xn-U stands for Xn User Plane interface and Xn-C stands for Xn Control Plane interface. AgNG interface exists between 5GC and the base stations (i.e. gNB & ng-eNB). A gNB node provides NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE, and is connected via the NG interface to the 5GC. The 5G NR (New Radio) gNB is connected to AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) and UPF (User Plane Function) in 5GC (5G Core Network).

The capabilities of a wireless terminal, e.g., UE, must be known throughout the portions of the radio access network and the core network that are involved in servicing or communicating with the wireless terminal. An information element known as UE-MRDC-Capabilities contains further information elements such as the supportedBandCombinationList as well as a list of featureGroupCombinations. The latter contains the identifiers of EUTRA- and NR Feature Sets. The EUTRA feature sets are conveyed in the UE-EUTRA-Capabilities in the field featureSetsEUTRA-r15. The NR feature sets are carried in the UE-NR-Capabilities in the field featureSets. The reasoning behind that split is that the network node needs to know and comprehend only the feature set of its own RAT and in addition the compatible feature set ID for the other RAT.

The feature sets do not contain their ID explicitly. It is derived from the position of the feature set in the featureSets list. The ID space for feature sets is limited to 1024 elements.

The current 3GPP TS 36.331 allows the eNB to request the UE-NR-Capabilities first. The UE is then required to return the UE-NR-Capabilities with the supported band combinations filtered in accordance with the FreqBandList. It also includes the featureSetCombinations referred to in the band combinations and the featureSets referred to in the featureSetCombinations.

Since the NW requests capabilities for “nr”, the FreqBandList should contain only NR band numbers. And correspondingly, the featureSets should contain only featureSets referred to from NR-only band combinations.

Subsequently, the NW may (or may not) perform another capability enquiry for “eutra-nr” and request band combinations for the required EUTRA- and NR band numbers. The UE will generate a supportedBandCombinationList as described in 38.331, 5.6.1.4 and the corresponding featureSetCombinations. The feature set IDs in the latter should refer to feature sets defined previously in the featureSets list in the UE-NR-Capabilities. However, when generating that one the UE did not know which MRDC band combinations it will later be required to include and hence it is likely that the previously defined feature sets do not suffice for the MR-DC band combinations.

One could consider adding the EUTRA band numbers already in the FreqBandList of the UECapabilityEnquiry that requests the “nr” capabilities and adjust the procedural text in 38.331, 5.6.1.4 so that the UE includes the featureSets for EN-DC band combinations that it would include in supportedBandCombinationsList if the request would be for eutra-nr. This would require corresponding changes to the procedural text but anyway only ensure consistency among the “corresponding requests”.

Another approach would be to change the behaviour so that the UE includes both the UE-NR-Capabilities and the corresponding UE-MRDC-Capabilities when the NW requests “eutra-nr”. The NW could request capabilities only for “eutra-nr” only for “nr” of for both. The requested rat-Type(s) would unambiguously determine which capability IEs and which fields therein the UE shall provide. The “eutra-nr-only” flag that was added last meeting but for which no behaviour is defined in procedural text would not be necessary anymore. Unfortunately, this does also not solve the problem: If the network requests “nr” and “eutra-nr” in separate UECapabilityEnquiry messages, the featureSet provided in the UE-NR-Capabilities sent in response to the “nr” request would likely contain different entries than the featureSet provided in the UE-NR-Capabilities sent in response to the “eutra-nr” request. The reason is that, in accordance with the procedure, the UE includes only the featureSets required for the band combinations in the respective supportedBandCombinationsList. This also means that the feature set IDs in the two featureSets are not compatible with each other.

The same is true if the network requests the NR capabilities subsequently with different filters (FreqBandLists). Also here it is likely that the band combinations in the two supportedBandCombinationLists refer to other (more, fewer, different) feature sets.

A general consequence of the split between band combinations and feature sets and the rule to include only the featureSets needed for the currently requested band combinations is that the NW cannot simply merge the band combinations acquired with different filters into a single list of supportedBandCombination. As discussed earlier, this would have been possible in LTE and it would have allowed to collect more band combinations that fit into the maximum PDU size (8188 byte in LTE).

The foregoing provides bases for two observations:

In R2-1814240, “UE radio capability reporting based on UE-capability-ID”, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 #103bis meeting, Chengdu, China, 8-12 October 2018, incorporated herein by reference, several signaling mechanisms were used to convey the same UE Capability ID to the 5GC and RRM despite the fact that the NAS capabilities are different that the AS/RAN/RRM capabilities. The 5GC does not need to know all the details of the RAN capabilities of the UE, There RAN/AS based capabilities may beneficial to the RRM scheduler and the Physical Resources allocation which are totally orthogonal/transparent to the 5. The same argument applies to the NAS based capabilities which may not be beneficial to the RRM scheduler.

Fig. 2 - Fig. 5 show detailed UE Radio capabilities procedures based on the description above. In particular, Fig. 2 shows the call flow where the UE provides a UE-capability-ID as part of the registration procedure for the case where the network has the corresponding UE capabilities. Fig. 3 shows the call flow where either (a) the UE does not provides a UE-capability-ID as part of the registration procedure; or (b) the network does not have the corresponding UE capabilities. Fig. 4 shows the call flow where the network modifies the UE-capability-ID. Fig. 5 shows the call flow where the UE modifies the set of UE radio capabilities and the corresponding UE-capability-ID.

A document R2-1815429, “Solution for UE capability signalling optimisation using UE Capability ID”, 3GPP TSG-RAN2 Meeting #103bis, Chengdu, China, 8 - 12 Oct 2018, incorporated herein by reference, provides three methods or solutions for providing UE capabilities. A first R2-1815429 solution uses NAS message and only CN stores the association table. In particular, the UE sends a UE capability ID to the CN using NAS message before the CN sends the Initial Context Setup Request to the RAN, and only the CN stores the association table, i.e. the RAN does not identify the UE capability ID. The detailed sequence diagrams for the first R2-1815429 solution are shown in Fig. 6. Compared with the existing signalling, the signalling of Fig. 6 over Uu interface can be reduced by decreasing the number times of execution of the UE Capability Enquiry procedure. The first R2-1815429 solution may reduce the signalling over Uu interface compared with the existing signalling, but it may have no impact in RAN.

A second R2-1815429 solution uses AS message and only RAN stores the association table. In particular, in the second R2-1815429 solution the UE sets a UE capability ID in the RRCSetupComplete, and only the RAN stores the association table, i.e., the core network CN does not identify the UE capability ID. The detailed sequence diagrams for the second R2-1815429 solution are shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8. Fig. 7 shows case a for the second R2-1815429 solution; Fig. 8 shows case b for the second R2-1815429 solution. In case a, the RAN can identify the corresponding UE capability in an association table. In case b the RAN cannot identify the corresponding UE capability in the association table. In the second R2-1815429 solution, a new IE named “UE capability request” IE is defined in the Initial UE Message and in the Initial Context Setup Request. If the IE is present, it means that the sending node requests the corresponding UE capability, i.e. the sending node does not store the corresponding UE capability.

The second R2-1815429 solution of Fig. 7 and Fig. 8, may reduce the signalling over Uu interface as in the solution 1 of Fig. 6. It may also reduce the signalling over RAN-CN interface by indicating to each other whether the RAN or CN has already stored the corresponding UE capability. However, since the coverage of RAN is smaller than CN, the number of UE capability IDs stored in the association table may be less than solution 1 of Fig. 6 or solution 3 of Fig. 9 and Fig. 10, so that the signalling reduction effect over Uu interface for the second R2-1815429 solution may be less than the first R2-1815429 solution or the third R2-1815429 solution.

The third R2-1815429 solution uses AS message and both RAN and CN stores the association table. In the third R2-1815429 solution the UE sets a UE capability ID in the RRCSetupComplete, and RAN also sets the received UE capability ID in the Initial UE Message, and both RAN and CN store the association table, i.e. both RAN and CN identify the UE capability ID. The detailed sequence diagrams are shown in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10. Fig. 9 shows a case in which the RAN can identify the corresponding UE capability in an association table. Fig. 10 shows a case b in which the RAN cannot identify the corresponding UE capability in the association table. In the third R2-1815429 solution the “UE capability Request” IE is defined the same as the second R2-1815429 solution.

Although the signalling of the third R2-1815429 solution is mostly same as the second R2-1815429 solution, the third R2-1815429 solution may be more efficient than other solutions from signalling optimisation point of view. The third R2-1815429 solution may reduce the signalling not only over Uu interface but also RAN-CN interface. Furthermore, since the case where the CN has already stored the corresponding UE capability increases, the signalling reduction effect over RAN-CN interface is greater than the second R2-1815429 solution. However, the third R2-1815429 solution may have big impacts on both RAN and CN.

What is needed are methods, apparatus, and/or techniques to expedite and/or simplify signaling of capabilities in a radio access network.

In one example, a wireless terminal comprising: processor circuitry configured, upon a change of capabilities of the wireless terminal, to generate a message which identifies changed capabilities rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal; transmitter circuitry configured to transmit the message over an air interface to a network.

In one example, a node of a radio access network comprising: processor circuitry configured to generate a UE capabilities update request message for transmission to a wireless terminal (served by the node) and to process a UE capabilities update response message received from the wireless terminal; transceiver circuitry configured to transmit and receive, over an air interface, the respective the UE capabilities update request message and the UE capabilities update response message; wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to process the UE capabilities update response message as identifying changed capabilities of the wireless terminal rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal.

In one example, A node of a core network of a communications system, the node comprising: processor circuitry configured to generate a UE capabilities update request message for transmission to a wireless terminal and to process a UE capabilities update response message received from the wireless terminal; interface circuitry configured to transmit and receive the respective the UE capabilities update request message and the UE capabilities update response message; wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to process the UE capabilities update response message as identifying changed capabilities of the wireless terminal rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal.

In one example, a server of a core network in a communications system, the server comprising: memory circuitry configured to store a subscriber profile for a subscriber, the subscriber profile comprising one or more historical capabilities associated with the subscriber and one or more latest but already-implement capabilities updates for the subscriber; an interface configured to receive messages from a node of the core network; processor circuitry to manage the subscriber profile and to update the subscriber profile upon receipt of a message which identifies changed capabilities rather than a listing of all capabilities of a wireless terminal associated with the subscriber.

In one example, a method in wireless terminal comprising: using processor circuitry, upon a change of capabilities of the wireless terminal, to generate a message which identifies changed capabilities rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal; transmitting the message over an air interface to a network.

In one example, A method in node of a radio access network, the method comprising: using processor circuitry to generate a UE capabilities update request message for transmission to a wireless terminal and to process a UE capabilities update response message received from the wireless terminal; transmitting and receiving, over an air interface, the respective the UE capabilities update request message and the UE capabilities update response message; using the processor circuitry to process the UE capabilities update response message as identifying changed capabilities of the wireless terminal rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal.

In one example, A method in a node of a core network of a communications system, the method comprising: using processor circuitry to generate a UE capabilities update request message for transmission to a wireless terminal and to process a UE capabilities update response message received from the wireless terminal; transmitting and receiving the respective the UE capabilities update request message and the UE capabilities update response message; using the processor circuitry to process the UE capabilities update response message as identifying changed capabilities of the wireless terminal rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal.

In one example, A method in a server of a core network in a communications system, the method comprising: storing in memory circuitry a subscriber profile for a subscriber, the subscriber profile comprising one or more historical capabilities associated with the subscriber and one or more latest but already-implement capabilities updates for the subscriber; receiving messages from a node of the core network; using processor circuitry to manage the subscriber profile and to update the subscriber profile upon receipt of a message which identifies changed capabilities rather than a listing of all capabilities of a wireless terminal associated with the subscriber.

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the technology disclosed herein will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the various views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the technology disclosed herein.
Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of overall architecture for a 5G New Radio system. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of prior art UE Radio capabilities procedures. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of prior art UE Radio capabilities procedures. Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of prior art UE Radio capabilities procedures. Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of prior art UE Radio capabilities procedures. Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of prior art UE Radio capabilities procedures. Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of prior art UE Radio capabilities procedures. Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of prior art UE Radio capabilities procedures. Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view of prior art UE Radio capabilities procedures. Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view of prior art UE Radio capabilities procedures. Fig. 11 is a schematic view of an example embodiment of a communications system including a wireless terminal that reports changed capabilities of the wireless terminal, along with a radio access network node, a core network node, and a subscriber server connected to the core network. Fig. 12A is a diagrammatic view of a first example embodiment and mode of the wireless terminal of Fig. 11. Fig. 12B is a diagrammatic view of a second example embodiment and mode of the wireless terminal of Fig. 11. Fig. 13 is a diagrammatic view of an example embodiment and mode of a subscriber server of Fig. 11. Fig. 14 is a diagrammatic view of an example embodiment and mode of a radio access network node of Fig. 11. Fig. 15 is a diagrammatic view of an example embodiment and mode of a core network node of Fig. 11. Fig. 16A is a flowchart showing example, basic acts or steps comprising a method of operating the wireless terminal of Fig. 12A. Fig. 16B is a flowchart showing example, basic acts or steps comprising a method of operating the wireless terminal of Fig. 12B. Fig. 17 is a flowchart showing example, basic acts or steps comprising a method of operating the subscriber server of Fig. 11. Fig. 18 is a flowchart showing example, basic acts or steps comprising a method of operating the radio access network node of Fig. 11. Fig. 19 is a flowchart showing example, basic acts or steps comprising a method of operating the core network node of Fig. 11. Fig. 20 is a diagrammatic view depicting differing scenarios of operating the communications system of Fig. 11 wherein a report of UE changed capabilities is acquired from a wireless terminal. Fig. 21 is a diagrammatic view depicting differing scenarios of operating the communications system of Fig. 11 wherein a report of UE changed capabilities is acquired from a wireless terminal. Fig. 22 is a diagrammatic view depicting differing scenarios of operating the communications system of Fig. 11 wherein a report of UE changed capabilities is acquired from a wireless terminal. Fig. 23 is a diagrammatic view depicting differing scenarios of operating the communications system of Fig. 11 wherein a report of UE changed capabilities is acquired from a wireless terminal. Fig. 24 is a diagrammatic view depicting differing scenarios of operating the communications system of Fig. 11 wherein a report of UE changed capabilities is acquired from a wireless terminal. Fig. 25 is a diagrammatic view depicting differing scenarios of operating the communications system of Fig. 11 wherein a report of UE changed capabilities is acquired from a wireless terminal. Fig. 26 is a diagrammatic view showing example elements comprising electronic machinery which may comprise a wireless terminal, a radio access node, and a core network node according to an example embodiment and mode.

In an example aspect the threshold concerns a wireless terminal comprises processor circuitry and transceiver circuitry. The processor circuitry is configured, upon a change of capabilities of the wireless terminal, to generate a message which identifies changed capabilities rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal. The transmitter circuitry configured to transmit the message over an air interface to a network. Thus, the wireless terminal reports only the changed capabilities, e.g., only those UE capabilities that are added or removed as a result of the UE capabilities change, rather than an entire UE capabilities list. The reporting of the UE changed capabilities may occur as part of a UE capabilities request operation. The UE capabilities request operation may be performed using access stratum signaling, or non-access stratum signaling.

In another of its example aspects, the technology disclosed herein concerns a wireless terminal wherein processor circuitry generates a UE changed capabilities notification configured to indicate the fact or occurrence of the change of capabilities of the wireless terminal.

The structure and operation of RAN nodes, core network nodes, and subscriber servers which are compatible with the wireless terminal that reports UE changed capabilities are also discussed in accordance with other aspects of the technology disclosed herein.

In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the technology disclosed herein. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the technology disclosed herein may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details. That is, those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements which, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the technology disclosed herein and are included within its spirit and scope. In some instances, detailed descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the technology disclosed herein with unnecessary detail. All statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the technology disclosed herein, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure.

Thus, for example, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that block diagrams herein can represent conceptual views of illustrative circuitry or other functional units embodying the principles of the technology. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and so executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

As used herein, the term “core network” can refer to a device, group of devices, or sub-system in a telecommunication network that provides services to users of the telecommunications network. Examples of services provided by a core network include aggregation, authentication, call switching, service invocation, gateways to other networks, etc.

As used herein, the term “wireless terminal” can refer to any electronic device used to communicate voice and/or data via a telecommunications system, such as (but not limited to) a cellular network. Other terminology used to refer to wireless terminals and non-limiting examples of such devices can include user equipment terminal, UE, mobile station, mobile device, access terminal, subscriber station, mobile terminal, remote station, user terminal, terminal, subscriber unit, cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), laptop computers, tablets, netbooks, e-readers, wireless modems, etc.

As used herein, the term “access node”, “node”, or “base station” can refer to any device or group of devices that facilitates wireless communication or otherwise provides an interface between a wireless terminal and a telecommunications system. A non-limiting example of a base station can include, in the 3GPP specification, a Node B (“NB”), an enhanced Node B (“eNB”), a home eNB (“HeNB”), a gNB (for a New Radio [“NR”] technology system), or some other similar terminology.

As used herein, the term “telecommunication system” or “communications system” can refer to any network of devices used to transmit information. A non-limiting example of a telecommunication system is a cellular network or other wireless communication system.

As used herein, the term “cellular network” or “cellular radio access network” can refer to a network distributed over cells, each cell served by at least one fixed-location transceiver, such as a base station. A “cell” may be any communication channel that is specified by standardization or regulatory bodies to be used for International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (“IMTAdvanced”). All or a subset of the cell may be adopted by 3GPP as licensed bands (e.g., frequency band) to be used for communication between a base station, such as a Node B, and a UE terminal. A cellular network using licensed frequency bands can include configured cells. Configured cells can include cells of which a UE terminal is aware and in which it is allowed by a base station to transmit or receive information. Examples of cellular radio access networks include E-UTRAN, and any successors thereof (e.g., NUTRAN).

Fig. 11 shows an example embodiment of a representative generic communications system 20 including core network node 22 and radio access network node 24. The radio access network node 24 serves cell 26 in which wireless terminal 30 has radio access to the radio access network across an air or radio interface 32. It should be understood that a core network may comprise plural core network nodes, and that the radio access network may also include plural radio access network nodes. The core network may be of any suitable types, such as GSM radio access network; a GERAN, which includes EDGE packet radio services; UTRAN, a UMTS radio access network; E-UTRAN, which includes Long-Term Evolution; g-UTRAN, the New Radio (NR) also known as 3GPP 5G. As such, the core network node 22 may be any suitable node, such as a mobility management entity (MME) or AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function). The radio access network node 24 may be, depending on radio access technology type, a base station, a Node B (“NB”), an enhanced Node B (“eNB”), a home eNB (“HeNB”), a gNB (for a New Radio [“NR”] technology system), or some other similar terminology.

As also shown in Fig. 11, the core network node 22 is connected to subscriber server 40. The subscriber server 40 may take the form of a home subscriber server (HSS), a home location register (HLR), or a network authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server. As described herein, the subscriber server 40 maintains, for each subscriber registered at subscriber server 40, a subscriber profile 42 which includes, e.g., a list of capabilities of the wireless terminal associated with the subscriber, e.g., UE capabilities.

The capabilities of wireless terminal 30, e.g., its UE capabilities, may change from time to time for various reasons. For example, and as discussed in more detail herein, the UE capabilities may change when a different Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) is inserted into the wireless terminal. For example, a subscriber who has previously used an older wireless terminal may remove the SIM card from the older wireless terminal and insert the SIM card formerly in the older wireless terminal into a newer wireless terminal that has enhanced, additional, or improved features. In such case, the subscriber profile for that subscriber needs to be updated to reflect the fact that the wireless terminal now utilized by the subscriber has the new or enhanced UE capabilities - added UE capabilities -- afforded by the new wireless terminal hardware and software. As another example, a subscriber may lose or damage the SIM card from his wireless terminal, and in lieu of the lost or damaged SIM card may insert a SIM card having lesser UE capabilities than the lost SIM card. In this second case the subscriber profile needs to be updated to reflect the fact that the SIM card now utilized by the subscriber has fewer UE capabilities - deleted UE capabilities - caused by the insertion of the lower grade SIM card.

Alternatively the UE capabilities may change when a software update occurs. A software update or software change may take place as part of a download from the network, and as such may occur when the wireless terminal 30 is in connected mode.

Fig. 11 generically shows by starburst 34 such a UE capabilities change 34. When a UE capabilities change 34 occurs, the entire network may need to know of the UE capabilities change, and particularly the subscriber server 40 so that the subscriber profile 42 can be updated. As described herein, when such a UE capabilities change 34 occurs, the wireless terminal 30 does not report it entire list of UE capabilities to the network as practiced in the prior art. Rather, the wireless terminal 30 reports only the changed capabilities, e.g., only those UE capabilities that are added or removed as a result of the UE capabilities change 34. As further described herein, the reporting of the UE changed capabilities may occur as part of a UE capabilities request operation. The UE capabilities request operation may be performed using access stratum signaling, or non-access stratum signaling. For example, Fig. 11 shows the access stratum signaling 35 pertaining to the UE capabilities request operation, and an access stratum message 36 which identifies changed capabilities rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal which identifies changed capabilities rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal. As an alternative, Fig. 11 also shows non-access stratum signaling 37 pertaining to the UE capabilities request operation, and a non-access stratum message 38 which identifies changed capabilities rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal. However, the UE capabilities request operation is conducted, either with access stratum signaling or non-access stratum signaling, other nodes not involved directly in the signaling may need to be apprised of the UE changed capabilities, and particularly the subscriber server 40 that hosts the subscriber profile 42.

Fig. 12A shows a first example embodiment and mode of the wireless terminal 30 of Fig. 11. The wireless terminal 30 of Fig. 12A comprises wireless terminal transceiver circuitry 50, which may simply be referred to as transceiver 50; processor circuitry 52, which may be referred to as processor 52 or UE processor 52 or wireless terminal processor 52; memory 54; one or more user interfaces 56; and Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card port 58.

The wireless terminal transceiver circuitry 50 may comprise both transmitter circuitry 60 and receiver circuitry 62, and typically includes antenna(e). For its transmitter circuitry 60 the transceiver circuitry 50 may include, e.g., amplifier(s), modulation circuitry and other conventional transmission equipment. For its receiver circuitry 62 the transceiver circuitry 50 may comprise, e.g., amplifiers, demodulation circuitry, and other conventional receiver equipment.

In an example embodiment and mode UE processor 52 may execute one or more programs or code in an operating system and one or more application programs, which may be stored in a non-transient portion of memory 54. The UE processor 52 may comprise frame/signal handler/generator 64; attach procedure controller 66; bus 67; bus controller 68; and UE capabilities controller 70. The bus controller 68 includes both software manager 72 and SIM card manager 74. The software manager 72 interfaces over bus 67 with software in memory 54, e.g., operation system 76 and other software 78, such as application software. The SIM card manager 74 interfaces over bus 67 with Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card port 58, and particularly notes the presence or absence of SIM card 80 in Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card port 58. For example, SIM card manager 74 detects change of a SIM card 80 in Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card port 58. In addition, SIM card manager 74 is involved in determining the SIM-card specified UE capabilities 82 as specified by the SIM card 80 inserted into Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card port 58.

The UE capabilities controller 70 of wireless terminal 30 comprises UE change of capabilities detector 84 and UE changed capabilities message generator 86. The capabilities detector 84 works in conjunction with current UE capabilities record 88 stored in memory 54. The current UE capabilities record 88 includes a list of all UE capabilities, both access stratum capabilities and non-access stratum capabilities, before any UE capabilities change. When a UE capabilities change 34 occurs, the UE capabilities provided as a result of the change are noted by capabilities detector 84, either with reference to software manager 72 in the event of a software change or with reference to SIM card manager 74 in the event of a SIM card change. The UE capabilities provided by the change are compared with the current UE capabilities record 88, and differential of UE capabilities of the current UE capabilities record 88 and the UE capabilities facilitated by the change are noted as the UE change of capabilities.

When a UE changed capabilities are determined by capabilities detector 84, the capabilities detector 84 instructs UE changed capabilities message generator 86 to prepare an appropriate message to include the content of the UE changed capabilities. The message as generated by UE changed capabilities message generator 86 includes only the UE changed capabilities, only the differential between the previous UE capabilities list and the UE capabilities now available as a result of the UE capabilities change 34. As indicated above, the UE changed capabilities or UE capabilities differential may be added UE capabilities or deleted UE capabilities. The message as generated by UE changed capabilities message generator 86 is sent to frame/signal handler/generator 64, which includes the content of the message in an appropriate message or signal which is transmitted by transmitter circuitry 60 over radio interface 32. The message or signal which is transmitted by transmitter circuitry 60 over radio interface 32 may be, for example, either the access stratum message 36 or the non-access stratum message 38 of Fig. 11.

Fig. 16A shows example, representative generic acts or steps performed by the wireless terminal 30 of Fig. 11 and Fig. 12A. Act 16A-1 comprises, upon a change of capabilities of the wireless terminal, generating a message which identifies changed capabilities rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal. Act 16A-2 comprises transmitting the message over an air interface to a network, e.g., as either access stratum message 36 or non-access stratum signaling 37.

Fig. 12B shows another example embodiment and mode of a wireless terminal, e.g., wireless terminal 30B, wherein the UE capabilities controller 70 further includes UE changed capabilities notification generator 90. The UE changed capabilities notification generator 90 generates, upon the change of capabilities of the wireless terminal, e.g., UE capabilities change 34, a notification 92 configured to indicate occurrence of the change of capabilities of the wireless terminal. The UE changed capabilities notification 92 differs from the message generated by UE changed capabilities message generator 86 in that the UE changed capabilities notification 92 essentially only apprises of the fact of the UE changed capabilities, not of the nature of the UE changed capabilities or the particular UE capabilities that are involved in the UE changed capabilities. The UE changed capabilities notification 92 is preferably included in a message which comprises an attach procedure performed by attach procedure controller 66. In view of the fact that the UE changed capabilities notification 92 is an optional feature, the UE changed capabilities notifications 92 are shown in broken lines in Fig. 11. The UE changed capabilities notifications using access stratum signaling is shown as UE changed capabilities notification 92_AS; the UE changed capabilities notifications using access stratum signaling is shown as UE changed capabilities notification 92_NAS.

Fig. 16B shows example, representative generic acts or steps performed by the wireless terminal 30B of Fig. 11 and Fig. 12B. Act 16-0 comprises, upon the change of capabilities of the wireless terminal, generating a notification configured to indicate occurrence of the change of capabilities of the wireless terminal, e.g., UE changed capabilities notification 92. Act 16B-1 comprises, upon the change of capabilities of the wireless terminal, and in response to a UE capabilities request message of a UE capabilities request operation, generating a message which identifies changed capabilities rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal. Act 16B-2 comprises transmitting the message over an air interface to a network, e.g., as either access stratum message 36 or non-access stratum signaling 37.

Fig. 13 shows an example embodiment and mode of a subscriber server 40 of Fig. 11. As indicated earlier, the subscriber server 40 may take the form of a home subscriber server (HSS), a home location register (HLR), or a network authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server. The subscriber server 40 comprises subscriber server processor 120; subscriber server memory 122; and subscriber server interface 124. The subscriber server interface 124 sends and receives messages from other nodes and servers, e.g., core network node 22, for example. The messages received or sent by subscriber server interface 124 are processed or generated by subscriber server message handler 126 which comprises subscriber server processor 120. The subscriber server processor 120 further comprises memory manager, or profile manager 128. The profile manager 128 maintains and updates the contents of the subscriber profile 42 for a subscriber. Fig. 13 particularly shows subscriber profile 42 for subscriber X as comprising numerous registers. The subscriber profile 42 includes, for example, registers 130 for storing the basic or original UE capabilities list for subscriber X, both UE access stratum capabilities 130_AS and UE non-access stratum capabilities 130_NAS. In addition, subscriber profile 42 includes registers 132 for storing the most recent UE capabilities changes or updates for subscriber X, both UE access stratum changed capabilities 132_AS and UE non-access stratum capabilities 132_NAS.

Fig. 17 is a flowchart showing example, basic acts or steps comprising a method of operating the subscriber server of Fig. 11. Act 17-1 comprises storing in memory circuitry, e.g., subscriber server memory 122, a subscriber profile 42 for a subscriber. The subscriber profile 42 comprises one or more historical capabilities associated with the subscriber and one or more latest but already-implement capabilities updates for the subscriber. Act 71-2 comprises receiving messages from a node of the core network, e.g., from core network node 22. Act 17-3 comprises using processor circuitry, e.g., subscriber server processor 120, to manage the subscriber profile 42 and to update the subscriber profile upon receipt of a message. The received message is one which identifies changed capabilities rather than a listing of all capabilities of a wireless terminal associated with the subscriber.

Fig. 14 is a diagrammatic view of an example embodiment and mode of a radio access network node 24 of Fig. 11. The radio access network node 24 comprises RAN node transceiver circuitry 140; RAN node processor circuitry 142; and core network interface 144. The RAN node transceiver circuitry 140 comprises both RAN node transmitter circuitry 146 and RAN node receiver circuitry 148. The RAN node transmitter circuitry 146 and RAN node receiver circuitry 148 are understood from the preceding discussion of transmitter circuitry 60 and receiver circuitry 62 as being in radio communications with receiver circuitry 62 and transmitter circuitry 60, respectively, over radio interface 32.

The RAN node processor circuitry 142 comprises RAN node frame/signal handler/generator 150; RAN node attach procedure controller 152; and RAN node UE capabilities controller 160. The RAN node UE capabilities controller 160 in turn comprises UE capabilities request generator 162; UE capabilities response handler 164; UE capabilities record manager 166; and UE capabilities report generator 168. The UE capabilities report generator 168 accesses, e.g., reads and writes into, UE access stratum capabilities record 170 for a specified subscriber. The UE capabilities request generator 162 may generate a UE capabilities request message using access stratum signaling when the network seeks to determine the UE capabilities of wireless terminal 30, e.g., what UE capabilities have changed. The UE capabilities request generator 162 may generate the UE capabilities request message periodically, upon request by a higher node, or, in the example embodiment and mode of Fig. 12B and Fig. 16B, when the radio access network node 24 receives a UE changed capabilities notification 92. The UE changed capabilities notification 92 may be received as part of an attach procedure handled by RAN node attach procedure controller 152. Fig. 14 thus further shows by broken lines that RAN node attach procedure controller 152 may comprise an optional notification detector 174.

Fig. 18 shows example, basic acts or steps comprising a method of operating the radio access network node 24 of Fig. 11. Act 18-1 comprises using processor circuitry, e.g., RAN node processor circuitry 142, to generate a UE capabilities update request message for transmission to a wireless terminal and to process a UE capabilities update response message received from the wireless terminal. Act 18-2 comprises transmitting and receiving, over an air interface, the respective the UE capabilities update request message and the UE capabilities update response message. Act 18-3 comprises using the processor circuitry to process the UE capabilities update response message as identifying changed capabilities of the wireless terminal rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal.

Fig. 15 is a diagrammatic view of an example embodiment and mode of a core network node 22 of Fig. 11. The core network node 22 comprises interface circuitry 180; core node processor circuitry 182; and subscriber server interface 184. The interface circuitry 180 is configured to communicate with one or more RAN nodes, such as radio access network node 24. The core node processor circuitry 182 comprises core node data/signal handler/generator 190; core node attach procedure controller 192; and core node UE capabilities controller 200. The RAN node UE capabilities controller 200 in turn comprises UE capabilities request generator 202; UE capabilities response handler 204; UE capabilities record manager 206; and UE capabilities report generator 208. The UE capabilities report generator 208 accesses, e.g., reads and writes into, UE non-access stratum capabilities record 210 for a specified subscriber. The UE capabilities request generator 202 may generate a UE capabilities request message using non-access stratum signaling when the network seeks to determine the UE capabilities of wireless terminal 30, e.g., what UE capabilities have changed. The UE capabilities request generator 202 may generate the UE capabilities request message periodically, upon request by a higher node, or, in the example embodiment and mode of Fig. 12B and Fig. 16B, when the radio access network node 24 receives a UE changed capabilities notification 92. As explained above, the UE changed capabilities notification 92 may be received as part of an attach procedure handled by core node attach procedure controller 192. Fig. 15 thus further shows by broken lines that core node attach procedure controller 192 may comprise an optional notification detector 212.

Fig. 19 is a flowchart showing example, basic acts or steps comprising a method of operating the core network node 22 of Fig. 11 and Fig. 15. Act 19-1 comprises using processor circuitry to generate a UE capabilities update request message for transmission to a wireless terminal and to process a UE capabilities update response message received from the wireless terminal. Act 19-2 comprises transmitting and receiving the respective the UE capabilities update request message and the UE capabilities update response message. Act 19-3 comprises using the processor circuitry to process the UE capabilities update response message as identifying changed capabilities of the wireless terminal rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal.

It should therefore be understood that the UE capabilities request message may be generated either by radio access network node 24, using access stratum signaling, in the manner of Fig. 18, or by core network node 22, using non-access stratum signaling, in the manner of Fig. 19. In either case, whichever of the two nodes performs the signaling in conjunction with the UE capabilities request operation, the received UE changed capabilities most be communicated to the other node, and to the subscriber server 40 as well for updating of the subscriber profile 42 for the subscriber.

Fig. 20 through Fig. 25 describe differing scenarios of operating the communications system 20 of Fig. 11 wherein a report of UE changed capabilities is acquired from wireless terminal 30.

Fig. 20 shows a RAN-based UE capabilities update procedure which employs RRC/access stratum signaling for performing a UE capabilities request operation, e.g., for sending a UE capabilities request message and receiving a UE capabilities response message. The scenario of Fig. 20 involves occurrence of a UE capabilities change such as a SIM card change. In the scenario of Fig. 20 as well as the scenarios of Fig. 21 - Fig. 25, communications between wireless terminal 30 and radio access network node 24 are performed by wireless terminal transceiver circuitry 50 of wireless terminal 30 and RAN node transceiver circuitry 140 of radio access network node 24; communications between radio access network node 24 and core network node 22 are performed by RAN node transceiver circuitry 140 of radio access network node 24 and interface circuitry 180 of core network node 22; and core network node 22 and subscriber server 40 are performed by interface circuitry 180 of core network node 22 and subscriber server interface 124 of subscriber server 40.

Act 20-1 comprises the wireless terminal 30 powering up, as occurs after replacement of a SIM card. After the power up of act 20-1, an attach procedure is initiated as shown by act 20-1. The attachment procedure involves RRC signaling between wireless terminal 30 and radio access network node 24 as shown by act 20-3, and S1 signaling between radio access network node 24 and core network node 22 as shown by act 20-4. Act 20-5 comprises an attach and authentication procedure performed between all of wireless terminal 30, radio access network node 24, core network node 22 wherein subscriber server 40 is apprised of the power up and attachment procedure performed by wireless terminal 30. Upon successful completion of act 20-5, an attach response message is sent from core network node 22 to radio access network node 24 as shown by act 20-6. In turn, an attach response message is sent from radio access network node 24 to wireless terminal 30 as shown by act 20-7.

Also after act 20-5, as act 20-8 the core network node 22 sends a message to subscriber server 40 to retrieve the subscriber data for the subscriber associated with wireless terminal 30. In response, as act 20-9 the subscriber server 40 sends the subscriber profile 42 of the subscriber, including both access stratum UE capabilities and non-access stratum UE capabilities as well as recent update of such UE capabilities. The core network node 22 then as act 20-10 stores the non-access stratum UE capabilities for the subscriber as received subscriber profile. The non-access stratum UE capabilities for the subscriber may be stored in UE non-access stratum capabilities record 210. As act 20-11 the core network node 22 sends the access stratum UE capabilities for the subscriber to radio access network node 24. The radio access network node 24 stores the access stratum UE capabilities for the subscriber as act 20-12, e.g., stores the access stratum UE capabilities in UE access stratum capabilities record 170.

Since in the Fig. 20 example embodiment and mode the radio access network node 24 performs the UE capabilities request operation, as act 20-13 the radio access network node 24 uses access stratum signaling to generate the UE capabilities update request message of act 20-13. The UE capabilities request generator 162 may generate the UE capabilities update request message of act 20-13. Generation of the UE capabilities update request message of act 20-13 is essentially triggered by the attach procedure which followed power up of the wireless terminal 30.

The UE capabilities controller 70 of wireless terminal 30 processes the received UE capabilities update request message of act 20-13. In response to the received UE capabilities update request message of act 20-13, the capabilities detector 84 determines if there is UE changed capabilities, e.g., any differential of UE capabilities to report to the network. If there are UE changed capabilities, e.g., if the UE capabilities list has changed, then the UE changed capabilities message generator 86 may generate the UE capabilities update response message to include an indicate of what specific UE capabilities have been added or deleted.

Such UE capabilities update response message may be formatted in several ways. For example, the UE capabilities update response message may include a first information element or field which lists only those UE capabilities have been added and a second information element or field which lists only those UE capabilities have been deleted. Alternatively, UE capabilities update response message may be formatted to include a field or IE for each changed UE capabilities, with a paired information element, field, or bit indicating whether the change is an addition or deletion. If there has been no change in the UE capabilities, the UE capabilities update response message may include an appropriate flag to indicate no change.

As act 20-14 the radio access network node 24 receives, and the UE capabilities response handler 164 processes, the UE capabilities update response message, e.g., access stratum UE changed capabilities message 36 of Fig. 11. In addition, if necessary in view of the content of the received message, under control of UE capabilities record manager 166 the radio access network node 24 updates the UE access stratum capabilities record 170 for the subscriber as act 20-15. As act 20-16 the radio access network node 24 then sends a message of UE capability profile update to core network node 22, so that core network node 22 stores the updated NAS UE capabilities for the subscriber as act 20-17. The core network node 22 then sends the UE capability profile update to subscriber server 40 as act 20-18, whereupon the subscriber server 40 updates the subscriber profile 42 for the subscriber as act 20-19.

Fig. 21 shows a core network-based UE capabilities update procedure which employs non-access stratum signaling for performing a UE capabilities request operation, e.g., for sending a UE capabilities request message and receiving a UE capabilities response message. The scenario of Fig. 21 involves occurrence of a UE capabilities change such as a SIM card change. In the non-limiting example scenario of Fig. 21, the core network is a 5GC core network, a “New Radio” core network. However, the acts of Fig. 21 are also applicable to other types of core networks.

The acts of Fig. 21 are similar to comparably suffixed acts of Fig. 20, with exceptions occurring at act 21-13 and thereafter. In view of the fact that the UE capabilities request operation of Fig. 21 is core network-based, the core network node 22 issues the UE capabilities request message of act 21-13 using non-access stratum signaling, and receives the UE capabilities update response message (non-access stratum signaling) as act 21-14. The UE capabilities request generator 202 of core network node 22 may generate the UE capabilities request message of act 21-13; the UE capabilities response handler 204 may process the UE capabilities update response message of at 21-14. As act 21-15 the UE capabilities record manager 206 stores the updated UE non-access stratum capabilities in UE non-access stratum capabilities record 210. The core network node 22 then sends the UE capabilities profile update to radio access network node 24, where it is stored as act 21-17. The core network node 22 also, as act 21-18, sends the UE capabilities profile update to subscriber server 40, whereupon the subscriber profile 42 is updated as indicated by act 21-19.

Fig. 22 shows a RAN-based UE capabilities update procedure which employs RRC/access stratum signaling for performing a UE capabilities request operation and wherein the wireless terminal 30 sends a UE changed capabilities notification 92 in the manner of Fig. 12B and Fig. 16B. The scenario of Fig. 22 involves occurrence of a UE capabilities change such as a SIM card change.

The acts of Fig. 22 are similar to comparably suffixed acts of Fig. 20, with exceptions being act 22-3 and act 22-4. Since Fig. 22 may be performed by the wireless terminal 30B of Fig. 12B according to the acts of Fig. 16B, the RRC attach message of act 22-3 and the S1 attach message of act 22-4 may include the UE changed capabilities notification 92. The UE changed capabilities notification 92, which may also be referred to as “flag to update”, may take the form of a flag that indicates whether or not there are any UE changed capabilities. For example, the UE changed capabilities notification 92 may be a bit which, when having a first or set value, indicates that the UE capabilities have changed, and, when having a second or unset value, indicates that the UE capabilities have not changed. Unlike the UE capabilities update response message the UE changed capabilities notification 92 does not identify which UE capabilities may have changed, but only indicates the fact or a UE capabilities change or not. An advantage of the scenario of Fig. 22 is that, if the UE changed capabilities notification 92 indicates that there are no UE changed capabilities, the network need not continue with the UE capabilities request operation. Otherwise, if the UE changed capabilities notification 92 does indicate UE changed capabilities, the remainder of the acts of Fig. 22 are performed in essentially the same manner as Fig. 20.

Fig. 23 shows a core network-based UE capabilities update procedure which employs non-access stratum signaling for performing a UE capabilities request operation and wherein the wireless terminal 30 sends a UE changed capabilities notification 92 in the manner of Fig. 12B and Fig. 16B. The scenario of Fig. 23 involves occurrence of a UE capabilities change such as a SIM card change. In the non-limiting example scenario of Fig. 23, the core network is a 5GC core network, a “New Radio” core network. However, the acts of Fig. 23 are also applicable to other types of core networks.

The acts of Fig. 23 are similar to comparably suffixed acts of Fig. 22, with exceptions occurring at act 22-13 and thereafter. In view of the fact that the UE capabilities request operation of Fig. 21 is core network-based, the core network node 22 issues the UE capabilities request message of act 23-13 using non-access stratum signaling, and receives the UE capabilities update response message (non-access stratum signaling) as act 23-14. The UE capabilities request generator 202 of core network node 22 may generate the UE capabilities request message of act 23-13; the UE capabilities response handler 204 may process the UE capabilities update response message of at 23-14. As act 23-15 the UE capabilities record manager 206 stores the updated UE non-access stratum capabilities in UE non-access stratum capabilities record 210. The core network node 22 then sends the UE capabilities profile update to radio access network node 24, where it is stored as act 23-17. The core network node 22 also, as act 23-18, sends the UE capabilities profile update to subscriber server 40, whereupon the subscriber profile 42 is updated as indicated by act 23-19. As in the case of Fig. 22, the UE capabilities request operation including acts 23-13 and 13-14 need not be performed if the UE changed capabilities notification 92 in the attach messages of act 23-3 and 23-4 indicates that there are no UE changed capabilities.

Fig. 24 shows a RAN-based UE capabilities update procedure which employs RRC/access stratum signaling for performing a UE capabilities request operation and wherein the wireless terminal 30 sends a UE changed capabilities notification 92 in the manner of Fig. 12B and Fig. 16B. The scenario of Fig. 24 involves occurrence of a UE capabilities change such as a software update.

The scenario of Fig. 24 may result from an operation or event such as a software change, as may be detected by capabilities detector 84 in consultation with software manager 72 of wireless terminal 30. Since the scenario of Fig. 24 may result from an operation or event such as a software change, which may occur when the wireless terminal 30 is in connected mode, Fig. 24 does not show a power up act or step. Rather, Fig. 24 begins with an attach procedure of act 24-2 involving wireless terminal 30 and radio access network node 24. In conjunction with the attach procedure, the wireless terminal 30 may send to radio access network node 24 using access stratum signaling, e.g., RRC signaling, a UE changed capabilities notification 92 as indicated by act 24-3. The UE changed capabilities notification 92 may in turn then be transmitted from radio access network node 24 to core network node 22 as act 24-4 using access stratum or S1 signaling. As indicated above, the UE changed capabilities notification 92 may be a flag or other indicator which specifies whether or not there is any UE changed capabilities. If the flag of UE changed capabilities notification 92 indicate that there are no UE changed capabilities as a result of the software change, then the further acts of Fig. 24 need not be executed, or at least not the UE capabilities request operations of act 24-13 and 24-14.

However, if the UE changed capabilities notification 92 indicates the fact of any UE capabilities change, and in view of the fact that the UE capabilities request operation of Fig. 24 is RAN-based, as act 24-13 the radio access network node 24 sends a UE capabilities request message to wireless terminal 30, and thereafter receives the UE capabilities update response message of act 24-14. The sending of the UE capabilities request message, the actions of wireless terminal 30 upon receipt of the UE capabilities request message, and the generation of the UE capabilities update response message of act 24-14 are all understood from the previous discussions.

In Fig. 24 the depiction of the UE capabilities update response message of act 24-14 further describes one of the example formats of the UE capabilities update response message of act 24-14, and specifically that the UE capabilities update response message of act 24-14 may include a list of changed UE capabilities (delta or differential) and associated indicator whether the change UE capabilities are added or deleted, as described above. As act 24-15 the radio access network node 24 stores the updated access stratum UE capabilities. As act 24-16 the radio access network node 24 sends the updated UE capabilities to core network node 22 using S1 signaling. The core network node 22 as act 24-17 stores the updated non-access stratum UE capabilities, and as act 24-17A acknowledges to radio access network node 24 the receipt of the updated UE capabilities. The core network node 22 as act 24-18 then sends the UE capabilities profile update to subscriber server 40, whereupon as act 24-19 the subscriber server 40 updates the subscriber profile 42, e.g., stores the updated UE access stratum and non-access stratum capabilities for the subscriber. The subscriber server 40 may also send an acknowledgement to core network node 22.

Fig. 25 shows a core network-based UE capabilities update procedure which employs non-access stratum signaling for performing a UE capabilities request operation and wherein the wireless terminal 30 sends a UE changed capabilities notification 92 in the manner of Fig. 12B and Fig. 16B. The scenario of Fig. 25 involves occurrence of a UE capabilities change such as a software update. In the non-limiting example scenario of Fig. 25, the core network is a 5GC core network, a “New Radio” core network. However, the acts of Fig. 25 are also applicable to other types of core networks.

The scenario of Fig. 25, like the scenario of Fig. 24, may result from an operation or event such as a software change, as may be detected by capabilities detector 84 in consultation with software manager 72 of wireless terminal 30. Since the scenario of Fig. 25 may result from an operation or event such as a software change, which may occur when the wireless terminal 30 is in connected mode, Fig. 25 does not show a power up act or step. Rather, Fig. 25 begins with an attach procedure of act 25-2 involving wireless terminal 30 and radio access network node 25. In conjunction with the attach procedure, the wireless terminal 30 may send to radio access network node 25 using access stratum signaling, e.g., RRC signaling, a UE changed capabilities notification 92 as indicated by act 25-3. The UE changed capabilities notification 92 may in turn then be transmitted from radio access network node 25 to core network node 22 as act 25-4 using access stratum or S1 signaling. As indicated above, the UE changed capabilities notification 92 may be a flag or other indicator which specifies whether or not there is any UE changed capabilities. If the flag of UE changed capabilities notification 92 indicate that there are no UE changed capabilities as a result of the software change, then the further acts of Fig. 25 need not be executed, or at least not the UE capabilities request operations of act 25-13 and 25-14.

However, if the UE changed capabilities notification 92 indicates the fact of any UE capabilities change, and in view of the fact that the UE capabilities request operation of Fig. 25 are core network-based, as act 25-13 the core network node 22 sends a UE capabilities request message to wireless terminal 30, and thereafter receives the UE capabilities update response message of act 25-14. The sending of the UE capabilities request message, the actions of wireless terminal 30 upon receipt of the UE capabilities request message, and the generation of the UE capabilities update response message of act 25-14 are all understood from the previous discussions.

Like in Fig. 24, in Fig. 25 the depiction of the UE capabilities update response message of act 25-14 further describes one of the example formats of the UE capabilities update response message of act 25-14, and specifically that the UE capabilities update response message of act 25-14 may include a list of changed UE capabilities (delta or differential) and associated indicator whether the change UE capabilities are added or deleted, as described above.

As act 25-15 the core network node 22 stores the updated non-access stratum UE capabilities. As act 25-16 the core network node 22 sends the updated UE capabilities to radio access network node 24 using S1 signaling. The radio access network node 24 as act 25-17 stores the updated access stratum UE capabilities, and as act 25-17A acknowledges to core network node 22 the receipt of the updated UE capabilities. The core network node 22 as act 25-18 then sends the UE capabilities profile update to subscriber server 40, whereupon as act 25-19 the subscriber server 40 updates the subscriber profile 42, e.g., stores the updated UE access stratum and non-access stratum capabilities for the subscriber. The subscriber server 40 may also send an acknowledgement to core network node 22.

The technology disclosed herein includes structure, acts or steps, features and advantages of which the following is a non-exhaustive listing:
The UE shall store (e.g., in the SIM) the lists of its Subscribed NAS and AS CAPABILITIES,
The UE should be able to detect any changes in the capabilities compared to the subscribed list (e.g., when a new capability is added/removed when the SIMS IS INSERTED into new Device).

The UE does not have to provide, over the air, complete lists of NAS based Capabilities to the 5GC using NAS signaling, and/or list of AS (RAN) based capabilities using RRC signaling.

The lists of “Subscribed NAS based capabilities” and “Subscribed AS based capabilities” can be updated in the HSS/HLR/AAA in case of any changes are reported by the UE.

The update can be done to the profile or to a different IE in the HSS/HLR/AAA dedicated as “Capability Variation List”
Any variations to the “Subscribed list” whether as an “Addition list” or as a “Removal list”
If requested by the network (5GC AMF or RAN RRM) for additional info, the UE provides NAS-Based-Capability-Profile-ID or AS-Based-Capability-Profile-ID, and any variations.

The NAS (AMF) and the AS (RAN-RRM) can request the list of stored “Subscribed NAS based capabilities”, and/or “Subscribed AS based capabilities”.

IF the UE reports any changes to the “Subscribed Profile”, the AS(RRM) and NAS(AMF) shall provide an update to the Variation list stored at the HLR/HSS/AAA.

The UE does not have to provide over the air a complete list of NAS based Capabilities to the 5GC using NAS signaling, or AS (RAN) based capabilities using RRC signaling.

Complete lists of “Subscribed NAS based capabilities” and “Subscribed AS based capabilities” are stored in the HSS/HLR/AAA.

The complete lists can be requested from the UE using NAS and/or AS signaling.

The lists of “Subscribed NAS based capabilities” and “Subscribed AS based capabilities” is stored in the HSS/HLR/AAA,
The lists are downloaded into the 5GC (AMF) and to the RAN RNC/RRM/gNB,

The variation profile may be indicated using list of delta-profile capabilities (NAS and AS), delta profile-capability ID (AS and NAS), and/or a bitmap of variation supported features (AS and NAS).

Features of one or more example embodiments and modes described herein encompass or comprise the following:
There may be two capabilities lists or profiles: NAS based Capabilities/Profile to be used in the 5GC and reported using NAS signaling, and AS (RAN) based capabilities/profiles to be used by RNC/RRC/RRM/gNB scheduler and may be communicated using AS/RRC signaling.

Instead of using air interface (i.e., UE report or UE query) to get these lists, HSS/HLR/AAA report and/or queries (PUSH and/or PULL mechanisms to HSS/HLR/AAA) are used to get the latest versions of UE capabilities/profile.

5GC may use Stored “Subscribed Feature/Capability List” associated with the UE profile and subscriber Equipment at the HSS/HLR/AAA.

Additional Lists, i.e., Variation Capability Lists, is created at the HSS/HLR/AAA to include any changes in the UE capabilities.

The variation lists (NAS and/or AS) lists are dynamically updated and tracked by the 5GC.

The UE must update its profile upon any changes.

The UE shall store (e.g., in the SIM) the lists of its Subscribed NAS and AS CAPABILITIES.

The UE should be able to detect any changes in the capabilities compared to the subscribed list (e.g., when a new capability is added/removed when the SIMS IS INSERTED into new Device).

Certain units and functionalities of radio access network 24 may be implemented by electronic machinery. For example, electronic machinery may refer to the processor circuitry described herein, such as UE processor 52, subscriber server processor 120, RAN node processor circuitry 142, and core node processor circuitry 182. Moreover, the term “processor circuitry” is not limited to mean one processor, but may include plural processors, with the plural processors operating at one or more sites. Moreover, as used herein the term “server” is not confined to one server unit, but may encompasses plural servers and/or other electronic equipment, and may be co-located at one site or distributed to different sites. With these understandings, Fig. 26 shows an example of electronic machinery, e.g., processor circuitry, as comprising one or more processors 290, program instruction memory 292; other memory 294 (e.g., RAM, cache, etc.); input/

output interfaces

296 and 297, peripheral interfaces 298; support circuits 299; and busses 300 for communication between the aforementioned units. The processor(s) 290 may comprise the processor circuitries described herein, for example, the UE processor 52, subscriber server processor 120, RAN node processor circuitry 142, and core node processor circuitry 182.

An memory or register described herein may be depicted by memory 294, or any computer-readable medium, may be one or more of readily available memory such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), floppy disk, hard disk, flash memory or any other form of digital storage, local or remote, and is preferably of non-volatile nature, as and such may comprise memory. The support circuits 299 are coupled to the processors 290 for supporting the processor in a conventional manner. These circuits include cache, power supplies, clock circuits, input/output circuitry and subsystems, and the like.

Although the processes and methods of the disclosed embodiments may be discussed as being implemented as a software routine, some of the method steps that are disclosed therein may be performed in hardware as well as by a processor running software. As such, the embodiments may be implemented in software as executed upon a computer system, in hardware as an application specific integrated circuit or other type of hardware implementation, or a combination of software and hardware. The software routines of the disclosed embodiments are capable of being executed on any computer operating system, and is capable of being performed using any CPU architecture.

The functions of the various elements including functional blocks, including but not limited to those labeled or described as “computer”, “processor” or “controller”, may be provided through the use of hardware such as circuit hardware and/or hardware capable of executing software in the form of coded instructions stored on computer readable medium. Thus, such functions and illustrated functional blocks are to be understood as being either hardware-implemented and/or computer-implemented, and thus machine-implemented.

In terms of hardware implementation, the functional blocks may include or encompass, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, reduced instruction set processor, hardware (e.g., digital or analog) circuitry including but not limited to application specific integrated circuit(s) [ASIC], and/or field programmable gate array(s) (FPGA(s)), and (where appropriate) state machines capable of performing such functions.

In terms of computer implementation, a computer is generally understood to comprise one or more processors or one or more controllers, and the terms computer and processor and controller may be employed interchangeably herein. When provided by a computer or processor or controller, the functions may be provided by a single dedicated computer or processor or controller, by a single shared computer or processor or controller, or by a plurality of individual computers or processors or controllers, some of which may be shared or distributed. Moreover, use of the term “processor” or “controller” may also be construed to refer to other hardware capable of performing such functions and/or executing software, such as the example hardware recited above.

Nodes that communicate using the air interface also have suitable radio communications circuitry. Moreover, the technology disclosed herein may additionally be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of computer-readable memory, such as solid-state memory, magnetic disk, or optical disk containing an appropriate set of computer instructions that would cause a processor to carry out the techniques described herein.

Moreover, each functional block or various features of the wireless terminal 30 and radio access network 24 used in each of the aforementioned embodiments may be implemented or executed by circuitry, which is typically an integrated circuit or a plurality of integrated circuits. The circuitry designed to execute the functions described in the present specification may comprise a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific or general application integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic, or a discrete hardware component, or a combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or alternatively, the processor may be a conventional processor, a controller, a microcontroller or a state machine. The general-purpose processor or each circuit described above may be configured by a digital circuit or may be configured by an analogue circuit. Further, when a technology of making into an integrated circuit superseding integrated circuits at the present time appears due to advancement of a semiconductor technology, the integrated circuit by this technology is also able to be used.

It will be appreciated that the technology disclosed herein is directed to solving radio communications-centric issues and is necessarily rooted in computer technology and overcomes problems specifically arising in radio communications. Moreover, the technology disclosed herein improves basic function of a radio access network, e.g., enabling faster and simplified access to the network and expedited, simplified handover operations.

Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the technology disclosed herein but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of the technology disclosed herein. Thus the scope of the technology disclosed herein should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents. Therefore, it will be appreciated that the scope of the technology disclosed herein fully encompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art, and that the scope of the technology disclosed herein is accordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, in which reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one" unless explicitly so stated, but rather "one or more." The above-described embodiments could be combined with one another. All structural, chemical, and functional equivalents to the elements of the above-described preferred embodiment that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or method to address each and every problem sought to be solved by the technology disclosed herein, for it to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims.

<Cross Reference>
This Nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 on provisional Application No. 62/748,359 on October 19, 2018, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

Claims

A wireless terminal comprising:
processor circuitry configured, upon a change of capabilities of the wireless terminal, to generate a message which identifies changed capabilities rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal;
transmitter circuitry configured to transmit the message over an air interface to a network.
The wireless terminal of claim 1, wherein the changed capabilities comprise wireless terminal capabilities which are either added or removed in view of the change of capabilities.
The wireless terminal of claim 1, wherein the changed capabilities occur as a result of insertion of a subscriber identity module (SIM) card into the wireless terminal.
The wireless terminal of claim 1, wherein the changed capabilities occur as a result of a software change for the wireless terminal.
The wireless terminal of claim 1, further comprising a detector configured to detect the change of capabilities of the wireless terminal.
The wireless terminal of claim 1, wherein the message is an access stratum message configured for transmission to a radio access network.
The wireless terminal of claim 1, wherein the message is a non-access stratum message configured for transmission to a core network.
The wireless terminal of claim 1, wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to generate, upon the change of capabilities of the wireless terminal, a notification configured to indicate occurrence of the change of capabilities of the wireless terminal.
The wireless terminal of claim 8, wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to generate the notification for inclusion in a message of an attach procedure.
The wireless terminal of claim 1, wherein the processor circuitry is configured to direct the transceiver circuitry to re-transmit the message at a specified time.
A node of a radio access network comprising:
processor circuitry configured to generate a UE capabilities update request message for transmission to a wireless terminal (served by the node) and to process a UE capabilities update response message received from the wireless terminal;
transceiver circuitry configured to transmit and receive, over an air interface, the respective the UE capabilities update request message and the UE capabilities update response message;
wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to process the UE capabilities update response message as identifying changed capabilities of the wireless terminal rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal.
The node of claim 11, further comprising memory circuitry configured to store a listing of access stratum capabilities of the wireless terminal, and wherein upon receipt of the UE capabilities update response message the processor circuitry is configured to update the listing of access stratum capabilities of the wireless terminal on a basis of the changed capabilities.
The node of claim 11, wherein upon receipt of the UE capabilities update response message the processor circuitry is configured to generate a message to inform other nodes of the updated capabilities of the wireless terminal. Other nodes include core network node.
The node of claim 11, wherein the processor circuitry is configured to generate the UE capabilities request message upon receipt of a notification configured to indicate occurrence of the change of capabilities of the wireless terminal.
The node of claim 14, wherein the processor circuitry is configured to perform an attach procedure with the wireless terminal and to receive the notification as a result of the attach procedure.
A node of a core network of a communications system, the node comprising:
processor circuitry configured to generate a UE capabilities update request message for transmission to a wireless terminal and to process a UE capabilities update response message received from the wireless terminal;
interface circuitry configured to transmit and receive the respective the UE capabilities update request message and the UE capabilities update response message;
wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to process the UE capabilities update response message as identifying changed capabilities of the wireless terminal rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal.
The node of claim 16, further comprising memory circuitry configured to store a listing of non-access stratum capabilities of the wireless terminal, and wherein upon receipt of the UE capabilities update response message the processor circuitry is configured to update the listing of non-access stratum capabilities of the wireless terminal on a basis of the changed capabilities.
The node of claim 16, wherein upon receipt of the UE capabilities update response message the processor circuitry is configured to generate a message to inform other entities of the updated capabilities of the wireless terminal.
The node of claim 16, wherein the processor circuitry is configured to generate the UE capabilities request message upon receipt of a notification configured to indicate occurrence of the change of capabilities of the wireless terminal.
The node of claim 19, wherein the processor circuitry is configured to perform an attach procedure with the wireless terminal and to receive the notification as a result of the attach procedure.
A server of a core network in a communications system, the server comprising:
memory circuitry configured to store a subscriber profile for a subscriber, the subscriber profile comprising one or more historical capabilities associated with the subscriber and one or more latest but already-implement capabilities updates for the subscriber;
an interface configured to receive messages from a node of the core network;
processor circuitry to manage the subscriber profile and to update the subscriber profile upon receipt of a message which identifies changed capabilities rather than a listing of all capabilities of a wireless terminal associated with the subscriber.
The server of claim 10, wherein the subscriber profile comprises one or more historical capabilities associated with the subscriber and one or more latest but already-implement capabilities updates for the subscriber.
The server of claim 10, wherein the subscriber profile comprises both access stratum and non-access stratum capabilities of the wireless terminal.
A method in wireless terminal comprising:
using processor circuitry, upon a change of capabilities of the wireless terminal, to generate a message which identifies changed capabilities rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal;
transmitting the message over an air interface to a network.
The method of claim 24, further comprising using the processor circuitry, upon the change of capabilities of the wireless terminal, to generate a notification configured to indicate occurrence of the change of capabilities of the wireless terminal.
A method in node of a radio access network, the method comprising:
using processor circuitry to generate a UE capabilities update request message for transmission to a wireless terminal and to process a UE capabilities update response message received from the wireless terminal;
transmitting and receiving, over an air interface, the respective the UE capabilities update request message and the UE capabilities update response message;
using the processor circuitry to process the UE capabilities update response message as identifying changed capabilities of the wireless terminal rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal.
A method in a node of a core network of a communications system, the method comprising:
using processor circuitry to generate a UE capabilities update request message for transmission to a wireless terminal and to process a UE capabilities update response message received from the wireless terminal;
transmitting and receiving the respective the UE capabilities update request message and the UE capabilities update response message;
using the processor circuitry to process the UE capabilities update response message as identifying changed capabilities of the wireless terminal rather than a listing of all capabilities of the wireless terminal.
A method in a server of a core network in a communications system, the method comprising:
storing in memory circuitry a subscriber profile for a subscriber, the subscriber profile comprising one or more historical capabilities associated with the subscriber and one or more latest but already-implement capabilities updates for the subscriber;
receiving messages from a node of the core network;
using processor circuitry to manage the subscriber profile and to update the subscriber profile upon receipt of a message which identifies changed capabilities rather than a listing of all capabilities of a wireless terminal associated with the subscriber.