US 11,696,124 B2
Secure communications for a client device involving authentication and key management for applications (AKMA)
Vimal Srivastava, Bangalore (IN); and Ravi Shekhar, Pune (IN)
Assigned to CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed by Cisco Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed on Oct. 8, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/497,320.
Prior Publication US 2023/0115314 A1, Apr. 13, 2023
Int. Cl. H04W 12/0433 (2021.01); H04W 12/033 (2021.01); H04W 12/041 (2021.01); H04W 12/0431 (2021.01)
CPC H04W 12/0433 (2021.01) [H04W 12/033 (2021.01); H04W 12/041 (2021.01); H04W 12/0431 (2021.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
obtaining, by a user plane function, a first uplink data packet from a client device, wherein the first uplink data packet is to be communicated to an application;
determining, by the user plane function based on the first uplink data packet, whether the client device supports an Authentication and Key Management for Applications (AKMA) functionality;
based on determining that the client device does not support the AKMA functionality, buffering at least the first uplink data packet by the user plane function and determining whether the application supports the AKMA functionality; and
based on determining that the application supports the AKMA functionality, performing AKMA functionality by the user plane function for the client device for data communications between the client device and the application.