US 12,439,237 B2
Home network assisted concurrent access to network slices in multiple visited public land mobile networks (VPLMNs)
Vimal Srivastava, Bangalore (IN); Sri Gundavelli, San Jose, CA (US); and Ravi Kiran Guntupalli, Cumming, GA (US)
Assigned to CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed by Cisco Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed on Mar. 28, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/705,939.
Prior Publication US 2023/0308852 A1, Sep. 28, 2023
Int. Cl. H04W 8/12 (2009.01); H04W 8/20 (2009.01); H04W 60/04 (2009.01); H04W 84/04 (2009.01)
CPC H04W 8/12 (2013.01) [H04W 8/20 (2013.01); H04W 60/04 (2013.01); H04W 84/042 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for use in facilitating concurrent access to services in a first visited public land mobile network (VPLMN) and a second VPLMN for a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
at a control plane function for mobility management operative for use in the first VPLMN,
receiving, from the UE, a message which indicates a registration request for registration using a first network slice and a second network slice;
managing registration of the UE in response to the registration request that includes obtaining, through a subscription authentication for the UE, an acceptance of the first network slice and the second network slice as allowed network slices for the UE and also obtaining a subscription parameter for the UE, the subscription parameter for the UE being set to indicate that home network assisted roaming is supported for the UE and the subscription parameter for the UE includes an address identifying an application function (AF) that is to support the home network assisted roaming, wherein the second network slice is not supported or available in the first VPLMN;
receiving, from the UE, a message which indicates a request for establishing a protocol data unit (PDU) session for the UE using the second network slice; and
for the second network slice that is not supported or available in the first VPLMN and based on the subscription parameter for the UE being set to indicate that home network assisted roaming is supported for the UE, forwarding, by the control plane function for mobility management in the first VPLMN, the request for establishing the PDU session to the AF using the address identifying the AF that is included in the subscription parameter for the UE, wherein the AF is configured to manage establishment of the PDU session for the UE using the second network slice in the second VPLMN.