WO2025251979A1

WO2025251979A1 - Methods and apparatus for handling emergency services fallback and nas signaling connection release procedure in network slicing in mobile communications

Info

Publication number: WO2025251979A1
Application number: PCT/CN2025/097694
Authority: WO
Inventors: Puneet PUNEET; Yu-Hsin Lin
Original assignee: MediaTek Inc
Current assignee: MediaTek Inc
Priority date: 2024-06-04
Filing date: 2025-05-28
Publication date: 2025-12-11
Anticipated expiration: 2026-12-04

Abstract

Techniques pertaining to handling emergency services fallback and non-access-stratum (NAS) signaling connection release procedure in network slicing in mobile communications are described. An apparatus (e.g., a user equipment (UE) ) receives a registration accept message from a network while there is a request by the apparatus to perform an emergency services fallback procedure. In response to the registration accept message meeting a network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) -related condition, the apparatus performs a registration procedure or a service request procedure for the emergency services fallback procedure. When the apparatus detects a condition before an ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update with the network has been completed, the apparatus performs either or both of the following: (a) ignoring a network slide-specific authentication command message; and (b) proceeding with the ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING EMERGENCY SERVICES FALLBACK AND NAS SIGNALING CONNECTION RELEASE PROCEDURE IN NETWORK SLICING IN MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION (S)

The present disclosure claims the priority benefit of Indian Patent Application Nos. 202421043310 and 202421044181, filed 04 June 2024 and 07 June 2024, respectively, the contents of which herein being incorporated by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to mobile communications and, more particularly, to handling emergency services fallback and non-access-stratum (NAS) signaling connection release procedure in network slicing in mobile communications.

BACKGROUND

In wireless communications such as mobile communications under the current 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specification, if a REGISTRATION ACCEPT message: (a) includes a 5^th Generation System (5GS) registration result information element (IE) with the "NSSAA to be performed" indicator set to "Network slice-specific authentication and authorization is to be performed" ; (b) includes a pending network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) ; (c) does not include an allowed NSSAI; an/or (d) does not include a partially allowed NSSAI, then a user equipment (UE) is not allowed to carry out certain actions until the UE receives an allowed NSSAI, a partially allowed NSSAI, or both. For example, the UE is not to perform the registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update with the Uplink data status IE except for emergency services. Also, the UE is not to initiate a service request procedure except for emergency services, for responding to paging or notification over non-3GPP access. Additionally, the UE is not to initiate a 5^th Generation Session Management (5GSM) procedure except for emergency services, indicating a change of 3GPP packet-switched (PS) data off UE status, or to request the release of a protocol data unit (PDU) session. Moreover, the UE is not to initiate the NAS transport procedure except for sending a Cellular Internet of Things (CIoT) user data container, short message service (SMS) , a Long Term Evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) message, a user plane positioning connection management information (UPP-CMI) container, a sidelink positioning protocol (SLPP) message, a location services message, a steering of roaming (SOR) transparent container, a UE policy container or a UE parameters update transparent container.

However, if the REGISTRATION ACCEPT message: (a) includes the 5GS registration result IE with the "NSSAA to be performed" indicator set to "Network slice-specific authentication and authorization is to be performed" ; (b) includes a pending NSSAI; (c) does not include an allowed NSSAI; or (d) does not include a partially allowed NSSAI, then the UE is not allowed to perform service request or registration procedure for emergency services fallback procedure until the UE receives an allowed NSSAI, a partially allowed NSSAI, or both, and an emergency call would be delayed further. This would be problematic for a user of the UE.

Moreover, with respect to a mobility registration update (MRU) , there might be collision between a network slice-specific authentication and authorization procedure and a registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update. If a REGISTRATION REQUEST message includes the Unavailability information IE and the UE receives a NETWORK SLICE-SPECIFIC AUTHENTICATION COMMAND message before an ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update has been completed, the UE is to ignore the NETWORK SLICE-SPECIFIC AUTHENTICATION COMMAND message and proceed with the registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update procedure. Moreover, if the REGISTRATION REQUEST message does not include the Unavailability information IE and the UE receives the NETWORK SLICE-SPECIFIC AUTHENTICATION COMMAND message before the ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update has been completed, the UE is to proceed with both procedures.

If the REGISTRATION REQUEST message includes a UE request type IE with a Request type value set to "NAS signaling connection release" and the UE receives the NETWORK SLICE-SPECIFIC AUTHENTICATION COMMAND message before the ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update has been completed, then the UE is to handle both procedures. However, when the UE sends a REGISTRATION REQUEST message including the UE request type IE with the Request type value set to "NAS signaling connection release" , then the UE is requesting to release the connection, and, as a result, the NETWORK SLICE-SPECIFIC AUTHENTICATION COMMAND procedure would be handled unnecessarily and the UE signaling would be wasted.

Therefore, there is a need for a solution of handling emergency services fallback and NAS signaling connection release procedure in network slicing in mobile communications.

SUMMARY

The following summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be limiting in any way. That is, the following summary is provided to introduce concepts, highlights, benefits, and advantages of the novel and non-obvious techniques described herein. Select implementations are further described below in the detailed description. Thus, the following summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended for use in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

An objective of the present disclosure is to propose solutions or schemes that address the issue (s) described herein. More specifically, various schemes proposed in the present disclosure are believed to provide solutions pertaining to handling emergency services fallback and NAS signaling connection release procedure in network slicing in mobile communications. It is believed that implementations of one or more of the schemes proposed herein may address or otherwise alleviate the issues described above.

In one aspect, a method may involve a UE receiving a registration accept message from a network while there is a request by the UE to perform an emergency services fallback procedure. In response to the registration accept message meeting a network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) -related condition, the method may involve the UE performing a registration procedure or a service request procedure for the emergency services fallback procedure.

In another aspect, a method may involve a UE detecting a condition before an ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update with a network has been completed. In response to the detecting, the method may involve the UE performing either or both of the following: (a) ignoring a network slide-specific authentication command message; and (b) proceeding with the ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update.

In yet another aspect, a method may involve a network detecting a condition before an ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update with a UE has been completed. In response to the detecting, the method may involve the network performing one or more of the following: (a) aborting a network slide-specific authentication and authorization procedure; (b) proceeding with the ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update; and (c) transmitting a registration accept message to the UE, with the registration accept message meeting an NSSAI-related condition.

In still another aspect, a method may involve a UE receiving a registration accept message from a network. Except for one or more specific procedure, the method may also involve the UE refraining from performing a registration procedure or a service request procedure in response to the registration accept message meeting an NSSAI-related condition. The one or more specific procedures may include an emergency services fallback procedure.

It is noteworthy that, although the description provided herein may be in the context of certain radio access technologies, networks, and network topologies such as 5G NR/Beyond Fifth-Generation (B5G) mobile communications, the proposed concepts, schemes and any variation (s) /derivative (s) thereof may be implemented in, for and by other types of radio access technologies, networks and network topologies such as, for example and without limitation, 4G/Long-Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced, LTE-Advanced Pro, Internet-of-Things (IoT) , Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) , Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) , vehicle-to-everything (V2X) , and non-terrestrial network (NTN) communications. Thus, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the examples described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of the present disclosure. The drawings illustrate implementations of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. It is appreciable that the drawings are not necessarily in scale as some components may be shown to be out of proportion than the size in actual implementation in order to clearly illustrate the concept of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example network environment in which various solutions and schemes in accordance with the present disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example communication system under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a second example process under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a second example process under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a second example process under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a second example process under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED IMPLEMENTATIONS

Detailed embodiments and implementations of the claimed subject matters are disclosed herein. However, it shall be understood that the disclosed embodiments and implementations are merely illustrative of the claimed subject matters which may be embodied in various forms. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments and implementations set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments and implementations are provided so that description of the present disclosure is thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. In the description below, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments and implementations.
Overview

Implementations in accordance with the present disclosure relate to various techniques, methods, schemes and/or solutions pertaining to handling emergency services fallback and NAS signaling connection release procedure in network slicing in mobile communications. According to the present disclosure, a number of possible solutions may be implemented separately or jointly. That is, although these possible solutions may be described below separately, two or more of these possible solutions may be implemented in one combination or another.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network environment 100 in which various solutions and schemes in accordance with the present disclosure may be implemented. FIG. 2 ～ FIG. 6 illustrate examples of implementation of various proposed schemes in network environment 100 in accordance with the present disclosure. The following description of various proposed schemes is provided with reference to FIG. 1 ～ FIG. 6.

Referring to FIG. 1, network environment 100 may involve a UE 110, such as a mobile device or smartphone, in wireless communication with a wireless network 120 as part of a communication network. The wireless network 120 may be one or more public land mobile networks (PLMNs) including 5G/NR domain, 4G/LTE domain, and 2^nd Generation/3^rd Generation (2G/3G) domain. UE 110 may initially be in wireless communication with wireless network 120 via a base station or network node 125 (e.g., an eNB, gNB or transmit-receive point (TRP) ) . In network environment 100, UE 110 and the wireless network 120 may implement various schemes pertaining to handling emergency services fallback and NAS signaling connection release procedure in network slicing in mobile communications in accordance with the present disclosure, as described herein.

It is noteworthy that, while the various proposed schemes may be individually or separately described below, in actual implementations some or all of the proposed schemes may be utilized or otherwise implemented jointly. Of course, each of the proposed schemes may be utilized or otherwise implemented individually or separately. Moreover, as used herein, a lower layer may refer to a layer in the 5GMM protocol stack that is lower than the radio resource control (RRC) layer, such as a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio control link (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, a physical (PHY) layer, or so forth.

Under a first proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure, in case that UE 110 receives a REGISTRAION ACCEPT message from wireless network 120 and the REGISTRAION ACCEPT message meets a NSSAI-related condition, while there is a request by UE 110 to perform an emergency services fallback procedure, then UE 110 may perform a registration procedure or a service request procedure for the emergency services fallback procedure. The NSSAI-related condition may include one or more of the following: (a) the REGISTRAION ACCEPT message including a 5GS registration result IE with a "NSSAA to be performed" indicator set to "Network slice-specific authentication and authorization is to be performed" ; (b) the REGISTRAION ACCEPT message including a pending NSSAI; (c) the REGISTRAION ACCEPT message not including an allowed NSSAI; and (d) the REGISTRAION ACCEPT message not including a partially allowed NSSAI. The term “NSSAA” stands for “network slice-specific authentication and authorization. ”

Under a second proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure, in case that UE 110 transmits a REGISTRATION REQUEST message with the REGISTRATION REQUEST message including a UE request type IE with the Request type value set to "NAS signaling connection release" and/or UE 110 receives a NETWORK SLICE-SPECIFIC AUTHENTICATION COMMAND message before an ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update has been completed, then UE 110 may ignore the NETWORK SLICE-SPECIFIC AUTHENTICATION COMMAND message and/or proceed with the registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update procedure. Moreover, wireless network 120 may abort the network slice-specific authentication and authorization procedure. Alternatively, or additionally, wireless network 120 may proceed with the registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update procedure.

As a first implementation example, if the REGISTRATION ACCEPT message received by UE 110: (a) includes the 5GS registration result IE with the "NSSAA to be performed" indicator set to "Network slice-specific authentication and authorization is to be performed" ; (b) includes a pending NSSAI; (c) does not include an allowed NSSAI; or (d) does not include a partially allowed NSSAI, then UE 110 may not perform a registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update with the Uplink data status IE except for emergency services or for emergency services fallback procedure. Additionally, UE 110 may not initiate a service request procedure except for emergency services, for emergency services fallback procedure, for responding to paging or notification over non-3GPP access.

As a second implementation example, if wireless network 120 receives a REGISTRATION REQUEST message before the ongoing network slice-specific authentication and authorization procedure has been completed and the REGISTRATION REQUEST message includes the Unavailability information IE or the UE request type IE with the Request type value set to "NAS signaling connection release" , then wireless network 120 may abort the network slice-specific authentication and authorization procedure and shall progress the registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update procedure. If wireless network 120 receives a REGISTRATION REQUEST message before the ongoing network slice-specific authentication and authorization procedure has been completed and the REGISTRATION REQUEST message does not include the Unavailability information IE and the UE request type IE with the Request type value set to "NAS signalling connection release" , both procedures may be progressed.

As a third implementation example, if the REGISTRATION REQUEST message includes the Unavailability information IE or the UE request type IE with the Request type value set to "NAS signalling connection release" , and UE 110 receives a NETWORK SLICE-SPECIFIC AUTHENTICATION COMMAND message before the ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update has been completed, then UE 110 may ignore the NETWORK SLICE-SPECIFIC AUTHENTICATION COMMAND message and proceed with the registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update procedure. If the REGISTRATION REQUEST message does not include the Unavailability information IE and the UE request type IE with the Request type value set to "NAS signalling connection release" , and UE 110 receives a NETWORK SLICE-SPECIFIC AUTHENTICATION COMMAND message before the ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update has been completed, then UE 110 may proceed with both procedures.
Illustrative Implementations

FIG. 2 illustrates an example communication system 200 having at least an example apparatus 210 and an example apparatus 220 in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. Each of apparatus 210 and apparatus 220 may perform various functions to implement schemes, techniques, processes and methods described herein pertaining to handling emergency services fallback and NAS signaling connection release procedure in network slicing in mobile communications, including the various schemes described above with respect to various proposed designs, concepts, schemes, systems and methods described above, including network environment 100, as well as processes described below.

Each of apparatus 210 and apparatus 220 may be a part of an electronic apparatus, which may be a network apparatus or a UE (e.g., UE 110) , such as a portable or mobile apparatus, a wearable apparatus, a vehicular device or a vehicle, a wireless communication apparatus or a computing apparatus. For instance, each of apparatus 210 and apparatus 220 may be implemented in a smartphone, a smart watch, a personal digital assistant, an electronic control unit (ECU) in a vehicle, a digital camera, or a computing equipment such as a tablet computer, a laptop computer or a notebook computer. Each of apparatus 210 and apparatus 220 may also be a part of a machine type apparatus, which may be an IoT apparatus such as an immobile or a stationary apparatus, a home apparatus, a roadside unit (RSU) , a wire communication apparatus or a computing apparatus. For instance, each of apparatus 210 and apparatus 220 may be implemented in a smart thermostat, a smart fridge, a smart door lock, a wireless speaker or a home control center. When implemented in or as a network apparatus, apparatus 210 and/or apparatus 220 may be implemented in an eNB in an LTE, LTE-Advanced or LTE-Advanced Pro network or in a gNB or TRP in a 5G network, an NR network, or an IoT network.

In some implementations, each of apparatus 210 and apparatus 220 may be implemented in the form of one or more integrated-circuit (IC) chips such as, for example and without limitation, one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more complex-instruction-set-computing (CISC) processors, or one or more reduced-instruction-set-computing (RISC) processors. In the various schemes described above, each of apparatus 210 and apparatus 220 may be implemented in or as a network apparatus or a UE. Each of apparatus 210 and apparatus 220 may include at least some of those components shown in FIG. 2 such as a processor 212 and a processor 222, respectively, for example. Each of apparatus 210 and apparatus 220 may further include one or more other components not pertinent to the proposed scheme of the present disclosure (e.g., internal power supply, display device and/or user interface device) , and, thus, such component (s) of apparatus 210 and apparatus 220 are neither shown in FIG. 2 nor described below in the interest of simplicity and brevity.

In one aspect, each of processor 212 and processor 222 may be implemented in the form of one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, or one or more CISC or RISC processors. That is, even though a singular term “a processor” is used herein to refer to processor 212 and processor 222, each of processor 212 and processor 222 may include multiple processors in some implementations and a single processor in other implementations in accordance with the present disclosure. In another aspect, each of processor 212 and processor 222 may be implemented in the form of hardware (and, optionally, firmware) with electronic components including, for example and without limitation, one or more transistors, one or more diodes, one or more capacitors, one or more resistors, one or more inductors, one or more memristors and/or one or more varactors that are configured and arranged to achieve specific purposes in accordance with the present disclosure. In other words, in at least some implementations, each of processor 212 and processor 222 is a special-purpose machine specifically designed, arranged, and configured to perform specific tasks including those pertaining to handling emergency services fallback and NAS signaling connection release procedure in network slicing in mobile communications in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure.

In some implementations, apparatus 210 may also include a transceiver 216 coupled to processor 212. Transceiver 216 may be capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. In some implementations, transceiver 216 may be capable of wirelessly communicating with different types of wireless networks of different radio access technologies (RATs) . In some implementations, transceiver 216 may be equipped with a plurality of antenna ports (not shown) such as, for example, four antenna ports. That is, transceiver 216 may be equipped with multiple transmit antennas and multiple receive antennas for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communications. In some implementations, apparatus 220 may also include a transceiver 226 coupled to processor 222. Transceiver 226 may include a transceiver capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. In some implementations, transceiver 226 may be capable of wirelessly communicating with different types of UEs/wireless networks of different RATs. In some implementations, transceiver 226 may be equipped with a plurality of antenna ports (not shown) such as, for example, four antenna ports. That is, transceiver 226 may be equipped with multiple transmit antennas and multiple receive antennas for MIMO wireless communications.

In some implementations, apparatus 210 may further include a memory 214 coupled to processor 212 and capable of being accessed by processor 212 and storing data therein. In some implementations, apparatus 220 may further include a memory 224 coupled to processor 222 and capable of being accessed by processor 222 and storing data therein. Each of memory 214 and memory 224 may include a type of random-access memory (RAM) such as dynamic RAM (DRAM) , static RAM (SRAM) , thyristor RAM (T-RAM) and/or zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM) . Alternatively, or additionally, each of memory 214 and memory 224 may include a type of read-only memory (ROM) such as mask ROM, programmable ROM (PROM) , erasable programmable ROM (EPROM) and/or electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) . Alternatively, or additionally, each of memory 214 and memory 224 may include a type of non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM) such as flash memory, solid-state memory, ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) , magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) and/or phase-change memory.

Each of apparatus 210 and apparatus 220 may be a communication entity capable of communicating with each other using various proposed schemes in accordance with the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes and without limitation, a description of capabilities of apparatus 210, as a UE (e.g., UE 110) , and apparatus 220, as a network node (e.g., network node 125) of a network (e.g., wireless network 120 as a 5G/NR mobile network) , is provided below in the context of example processes 300, 400, 500 and 600.
Illustrative Processes

Each of FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 illustrates an example process 300, example process 400, example process 500 or example process 600, respectively, in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. Each of process 300, process 400, process 500 and process 600 may represent an aspect of implementing various proposed designs, concepts, schemes, systems and methods described above. More specifically, each of process 300, process 400, process 500 and process 600 may represent an aspect of the proposed concepts and schemes pertaining to handling emergency services fallback and NAS signaling connection release procedure in network slicing in mobile communications in accordance with the present disclosure. Each of process 300, process 400, process 500 and process 600 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as illustrated by one or more of blocks 310 and 320 for process 300, blocks 410 and 420 for process 400, blocks 510 and 520 for process 500, and blocks 610 and 620 for process 600. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks of each of process 300, process 400, process 500 and process 600 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Moreover, the blocks/sub-blocks of each of process 300, process 400, process 500 and process 600 may be executed in the order shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, respectively, or in a different order. Furthermore, one or more of the blocks/sub-blocks of each of process 300, process 400, process 500 and process 600 may be executed repeatedly or iteratively. Each of process 300, process 400, process 500 and process 600 may be implemented by or in apparatus 210 and apparatus 220 as well as any variations thereof. Solely for illustrative purposes and without limiting the scope, each of process 300, process 400, process 500 and process 600 is described below in the context of apparatus 210 as a UE (e.g., UE 110) and apparatus 220 as a communication entity such as a network node or base station (e.g., network node 125) of a network (e.g., wireless network 120) .

Process 300 may begin at block 310.

At 310, process 300 may involve processor 212 of apparatus 210, as UE 110, receiving, via transceiver 216, a registration accept message from a network (e.g., wireless network 120 via apparatus 220 as network node 125) while there is a request by the UE to perform an emergency services fallback procedure. Process 300 may proceed from 310 to 320.

At 320, process 300 may involve processor 212 performing a registration procedure or a service request procedure for the emergency services fallback procedure responsive to the registration accept message meeting an NSSAI-related condition.

In some implementations, the NSSAI-related condition may include the registration accept message including a 5GS registration result IE with a “NSSAA to be performed” indicator set to “network slice-specific authentication and authorization is to be performed” .

In some implementations, the NSSAI-related condition may include the registration accept message including a pending NSSAI.

In some implementations, the NSSAI-related condition may include the registration accept message not including an allowed NSSAI.

In some implementations, the NSSAI-related condition may include the registration accept message not including a partially allowed NSSAI.

Process 400 may begin at block 410.

At 410, process 400 may involve processor 212 of apparatus 210, as UE 110, detecting a condition before an ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update with a network (e.g., wireless network 120 via apparatus 220 as network node 125) has been completed. Process 400 may proceed from 410 to 420.

At 420, process 400 may involve processor 212, in response to the detecting, performing either or both of the following: (a) ignoring a network slide-specific authentication command message; and (b) proceeding with the ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update.

In some implementations, the condition may include transmitting, to the network, a registration request message that includes a UE request type IE with a request type value set to “NAS signaling connection release” .

In some implementations, the condition may include receiving the network slice-specific authentication command message from the network.

Process 500 may begin at block 510.

At 510, process 500 may involve processor 222 of apparatus 220, as network node 125, detecting a condition before an ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update with a UE (e.g., apparatus 210 as UE 110) has been completed. Process 500 may proceed from 510 to 520.

At 520, process 500 may involve processor 212, in response to the detecting, performing one or more of the following: (a) aborting a network slide-specific authentication and authorization procedure; (b) proceeding with the ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update; and (c) transmitting a registration accept message to the UE, with the registration accept message meeting an NSSAI-related condition.

In some implementations, the NSSAI-related condition may include the registration accept message including a 5GS registration result IE with a “network slice-specific authentication and authorization (NSSAA) to be performed” indicator set to “network slice-specific authentication and authorization is to be performed” .

In some implementations, the condition may include receiving, from the UE, a registration request message that includes a UE request type IE with a request type value set to “NAS signaling connection release” such that processor 222 aborts the network slide-specific authentication and authorization procedure.

In some implementations, the condition may include receiving, from the UE, a registration request message that does not include a UE request type IE with a request type value set to “non-access-stratum (NAS) signaling connection release” such that processor 222 proceeds with the ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update.

In some implementations, the condition may include transmitting a network slice-specific authentication command message to the UE.

Process 600 may begin at block 610.

At 610, process 600 may involve processor 212 of apparatus 210, as UE 110, receiving, via transceiver 216, a registration accept message from a network (e.g., wireless network 120 via apparatus 220 as network node 125) . Process 600 may proceed from 610 to 620.

At 620, process 600 may involve processor 212, except for one or more specific procedures, refraining from performing (e.g., not performing) a registration procedure or a service request procedure in response to the registration accept message meeting an NSSAI-related condition. The one or more specific procedures may include an emergency services fallback procedure.

In some implementations, the one or more specific procedures may further include an emergency service and a paging or notification responding over a non-3GPP access.

In some implementations, the NSSAI-related condition may include the registration accept message including a pending NSSAI. Alternatively, the NSSAI-related condition may include the registration accept message not including an allowed NSSAI. Still alternatively, the NSSAI-related condition may include the registration accept message not including a partially allowed NSSAI.
Additional Notes

The herein-described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively "associated" such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as "associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being "operably connected" , or "operably coupled" , to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being "operably couplable" , to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components.

Further, with respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

Moreover, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims, e.g., bodies of the appended claims, are generally intended as “open” terms, e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to, ” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least, ” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to, ” etc. It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to implementations containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an, " e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more; ” the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number, e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations, " without other modifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations. Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc. ” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention, e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc. In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc. ” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention, e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc. It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B. ”

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various implementations of the present disclosure have been described herein for purposes of illustration, and that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the various implementations disclosed herein are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Claims

A method, comprising:

receiving, by a processor of a user equipment (UE) , a registration accept message from a network while there is a request by the UE to perform an emergency services fallback procedure; and

performing, by the processor, a registration procedure or a service request procedure for the emergency services fallback procedure responsive to the registration accept message meeting a network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) -related condition.
The method of Claim 1, wherein the NSSAI-related condition comprises the registration accept message including a 5^th Generation System (5GS) registration result information element (IE) with a “network slice-specific authentication and authorization (NSSAA) to be performed” indicator set to “network slice-specific authentication and authorization is to be performed” .
The method of Claim 1, wherein the NSSAI-related condition comprises the registration accept message including a pending NSSAI.
The method of Claim 1, wherein the NSSAI-related condition comprises the registration accept message not including an allowed NSSAI.
The method of Claim 1, wherein the NSSAI-related condition comprises the registration accept message not including a partially allowed NSSAI.
A method, comprising:

detecting, by a processor of a user equipment (UE) , a condition before an ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update with a network has been completed; and

responsive to the detecting, performing, by the processor, either or both of:

ignoring a network slide-specific authentication command message; and

proceeding with the ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update.
The method of Claim 6, wherein the condition comprises transmitting, to the network, a registration request message that includes a UE request type information element (IE) with a request type value set to “non-access-stratum (NAS) signaling connection release” .
The method of Claim 6, wherein the condition comprises receiving the network slice-specific authentication command message from the network.
A method, comprising:

detecting, by a processor of a network node of a network, a condition before an ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update with a user equipment (UE) has been completed;

responsive to the detecting, performing, by the processor, one or more of:

aborting a network slide-specific authentication and authorization procedure;

proceeding with the ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update; and

transmitting a registration accept message to the UE,

wherein the registration accept message meets a network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) -related condition.
The method of Claim 9, wherein the NSSAI-related condition comprises the registration accept message including a 5^th Generation System (5GS) registration result information element (IE) with a “network slice-specific authentication and authorization (NSSAA) to be performed” indicator set to “network slice-specific authentication and authorization is to be performed” .
The method of Claim 9, wherein the condition comprises receiving, from the UE, a registration request message that includes a UE request type information element (IE) with a request type value set to “non-access-stratum (NAS) signaling connection release” such that the processor aborts the network slide-specific authentication and authorization procedure.
The method of Claim 9, wherein the condition comprises receiving, from the UE, a registration request message that does not include a UE request type information element (IE) with a request type value set to “non-access-stratum (NAS) signaling connection release” such that the processor proceeds with the ongoing registration procedure for mobility and periodic registration update.
The method of Claim 9, wherein the condition comprises transmitting a network slice-specific authentication command message to the UE.
A method, comprising:

receiving, by a processor of a user equipment (UE) , a registration accept message from a network; and

except for one or more specific procedures, refraining, by the processor, from performing a registration procedure or a service request procedure in response to the registration accept message meeting a network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) -related condition,

wherein the one or more specific procedures comprise an emergency services fallback procedure.
The method of Claim 14, wherein the one or more specific procedures further comprise an emergency service and a paging or notification responding over a non-3^rd Generation Partnership Project (non-3GPP) access.
The method of Claim 14, wherein the NSSAI-related condition comprises the registration accept message including a 5^th Generation System (5GS) registration result information element (IE) with a “network slice-specific authentication and authorization (NSSAA) to be performed” indicator set to “network slice-specific authentication and authorization is to be performed” .
The method of Claim 14, wherein the NSSAI-related condition comprises the registration accept message including a pending NSSAI.
The method of Claim 14, wherein the NSSAI-related condition comprises the registration accept message not including an allowed NSSAI.
The method of Claim 14, wherein the NSSAI-related condition comprises the registration accept message not including a partially allowed NSSAI.