US 12,426,102 B2
Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for supporting simultaneous access to mutally isolated network slices
Rajesh Babu Natarajan, Bangalore (IN); Alessio Casati, West Molesey (GB); Srinivas Bandi, Bangalore (IN); and Betsy Covell, Chicago, IL (US)
Assigned to NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY, Espoo (FI)
Appl. No. 18/041,429
Filed by NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY, Espoo (FI)
PCT Filed Aug. 3, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/071625
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 13, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/037931, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 24, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 202041035753 (IN), filed on Aug. 19, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0319906 A1, Oct. 5, 2023
Int. Cl. H04W 76/10 (2018.01); H04W 48/18 (2009.01); H04W 60/04 (2009.01); H04W 76/20 (2018.01)
CPC H04W 76/10 (2018.02) [H04W 48/18 (2013.01); H04W 60/04 (2013.01); H04W 76/20 (2018.02)] 8 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory including computer program code,
the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
cause establishment, via a radio access network, of a first radio resource control connection to a first network slice, wherein the first radio resource control connection is associated with an active state or a connected state, wherein the active state or the connected state is configured to at least maintain a registration with, and allow for receiving transmissions from, a respective network slice;
cause inactivation, via the radio access network, of the first radio resource control connection, wherein the first radio resource control connection is switched to an inactive state, wherein the inactive state is configured to at least maintain the first radio resource control context with the radio access network; and
dynamically cause re-activation, via the radio access network, of a second radio resource control connection, wherein the second radio resource control connection is switched from the inactive state to the active state or the connected state; and wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to:
receive, via the radio access network which is in the active state or the connected state, a downlink data notification, wherein the downlink data notification indicates that downlink data is available from the first network slice or the second network slice via a respective radio resource control connection;
cause re-activation, via the radio access network, of the respective radio resource control connection based on the downlink data notification; and
receive, via the radio access network, the downlink data.