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EP-4738932-A1 - METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MANAGING TRANSITIONS BETWEEN TERRESTRIAL AND NON-TERRESTRIAL NETWORKS

EP4738932A1EP 4738932 A1EP4738932 A1EP 4738932A1EP-4738932-A1

Abstract

A method of managing access to one or more services for a user equipment (UE) on a network, wherein the network includes a terrestrial network (TN) and a non-terrestrial network (NTN). The method comprises: receiving (310) a request for connecting the user equipment to the non-terrestrial network; obtaining (320) a public land mobile network identifier (PLMN ID) for the non-terrestrial network; determining (330) a service level for the user equipment based on the public land mobile network identifier for the non-terrestrial network; generating (340) one or more service level indicators for the user equipment based on the determined service level, wherein the one or more service level indicators indicate one or more services of the non-terrestrial network which the user equipment is permitted to utilize; providing (350) the service level indicators to a network management entity, wherein the one or more service level indicators enable the network management entity to provision the user equipment with the one or more services of the non-terrestrial network which the user equipment is permitted to utilize.

Inventors

  • Urbano Ruiz, Julio
  • CHAMI, YOUSSEF
  • JARUHAR, Shrinjay

Assignees

  • Vodafone Group Services Limited

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20241101

Claims (15)

  1. A method of managing access to one or more services for a user equipment (UE) on a network, wherein the network includes a terrestrial network (TN) and a non-terrestrial network (NTN), the method comprising: receiving a request for connecting the user equipment to the non-terrestrial network; obtaining a public land mobile network identifier (PLMN ID) for the non-terrestrial network; determining a service level for the user equipment based on the public land mobile network identifier for the non-terrestrial network; generating one or more service level indicators for the user equipment based on the determined service level, wherein the one or more service level indicators indicate one or more services of the non-terrestrial network which the user equipment is permitted to utilize; providing the service level indicators to a network management entity, wherein the one or more service level indicators enable the network management entity to provision the user equipment with the one or more services of the non-terrestrial network which the user equipment is permitted to utilize.
  2. The method of claim 1, wherein the services comprise: an SMS service, a voice service, and a data service; and, optionally, each of the one or more service level indicators is associated with a respective on of the services.
  3. The method of claim 2, wherein providing the service level indicators to a network management entity comprises: providing a service level indicator associated with the SMS service to at least one of a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), a Central Subscriber Database (CSDB), and a Unified data management (UDM).
  4. The method of claim 2 or claim 3, wherein providing the service level indicators to a network management entity comprises: providing a service level indicator associated with the voice service to at least one of a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), a Central Subscriber Database (CSDB), and a Unified data management (UDM).
  5. The method of any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein providing the service level indicators to a network management entity comprises: providing a service level indicator associated with data services to at least one of a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) and a Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW).
  6. The method of any previous claim, wherein the request for connecting the user equipment to the non-terrestrial network is received in response to the user equipment being unable to connect to the terrestrial network.
  7. A method of providing a user equipment with access to one or more services of a non-terrestrial network by a network management entity, comprising: receiving, at the network management entity, a request for connecting the user equipment to the non-terrestrial network; obtaining, one or more service level indicators, wherein the one or more service level indicators indicate one or more services of the non-terrestrial network which the user equipment is permitted to utilize; determining one or more permitted services, of the one or more services of the non-terrestrial network, to provide the user equipment access to based on the service level indicators, wherein: if a service level indicator indicates that the user equipment is not permitted to utilize a service of the non-terrestrial network, then the network management entity prevents the user equipment from utilizing said service; or if a service level indicator indicates that the user equipment is permitted to utilize a service of the non-terrestrial network, then the network management entity enables the user equipment to utilize said service; establishing a connection between the user equipment and the non-terrestrial network; and providing the user equipment with the determined one or more permitted services via the establish connection.
  8. The method of claim 7, wherein the services comprise: an SMS service, a voice service, and a data service; and, optionally, each of the one or more service level indicators is associated with a respective on of the services.
  9. The method of claim 8 wherein, when the service is an SMS service, determining if the SMS service is a permitted service comprises: providing the service level indicator associated with the SMS service to at least one of a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), a Central Subscriber Database (CSDB), and a Unified data management (UDM).
  10. The method of claim 8 or claim 9 wherein, when the service is a voice service, determining if the voice service is a permitted service comprises: providing the service level indicator associated with the voice service to at least one of a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), a Central Subscriber Database (CSDB), and a Unified data management (UDM).
  11. The method of any of claims 7 to 10 wherein, when the service is a data service, determining if the data service is a permitted service comprises: providing the service level indicator associated with data services to at least one of a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) and a Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW).
  12. The method of any of claims 7 to 11 wherein, the network management entity comprises a mobility management entity (MME) configured to serve a plurality of different public land mobile network identifiers comprising: a non-terrestrial network public land mobile network identifier and a terrestrial network public land mobile network identifier.
  13. The method of any of claims 7 to 12 wherein, the network management entity comprises a first mobility management entity (MME) associated with a terrestrial network, and a second mobility management entity (MME) associated with the non-terrestrial network.
  14. The method of any of claims 7 to 13 wherein the method further comprises: disconnecting the user equipment from the non-terrestrial network; and establishing a connection between the user equipment and a terrestrial network (TN).
  15. A system configured to carry out the method of any one of claims 1 to 14.

Description

Field of the invention The invention relates to methods and systems for managing access to one or more services for a user equipment (UE) when connecting to a non-terrestrial network (NTN), as well as systems and methods for transitioning a user equipment (UE) between a terrestrial network (NT) and non-terrestrial network (NTN). Background of the invention The Mobile Satellite Telecommunication Services industry is undergoing a transformative shift due to the rapid rise of direct-to-device satellite solutions, primarily from direct-to-mobile services, driven by the integration of terrestrial network (TN) and non-terrestrial network (NTN) connectivity and technology developments. However, a typical non-terrestrial network (NTN) will have a lower bandwidth or maximum throughput than a terrestrial network (TN). That is, an NTN cannot support a volume of transmissions, such as SMS, Voice, or Data, as a TN due to the limitations of the current technology. Therefore, there is a need to effectively and efficiently utilize the available resources of an NTN. Summary of the invention There is described herein a method of managing access to one or more services for a user equipment (UE) on a network, wherein the network includes a terrestrial network (TN) and a non-terrestrial network (NTN), the method comprising: receiving a request for connecting the user equipment to the non-terrestrial network; obtaining a public land mobile network identifier (PLMN ID) for the non-terrestrial network; determining a service level for the user equipment based on the public land mobile network identifier for the non-terrestrial network; generating one or more service level indicators for the user equipment based on the determined service level, wherein the one or more service level indicators indicate one or more services of the non-terrestrial network which the user equipment is permitted to utilize; providing the service level indicators to a network management entity, wherein the one or more service level indicators enable the network management entity to provision the user equipment with the one or more services of the non-terrestrial network which the user equipment is permitted to utilize. There is also described herein a method of providing a user equipment with access to one or more services of a non-terrestrial network by a network management entity, comprising: receiving, at the network management entity, a request for connecting the user equipment to the non-terrestrial network; obtaining, one or more service level indicators, wherein the one or more service level indicators indicate one or more services of the non-terrestrial network which the user equipment is permitted to utilize; determining one or more permitted services, of the one or more services of the non-terrestrial network, to provide the user equipment access to based on the service level indicators, wherein: if a service level indicator indicates that the user equipment is not permitted to utilize a service of the non-terrestrial network, then the network management entity prevents the user equipment from utilizing said service; or if a service level indicator indicates that the user equipment is permitted to utilize a service of the non-terrestrial network, then the network management entity enables the user equipment to utilize said service; establishing a connection between the user equipment and the non-terrestrial network; and providing the user equipment with the determined one or more permitted services via the establish connection. There is also described herein systems configured for carrying out the methods described herein. There is also described herein a computer program having stored thereon computer readable instructions which, when carried out by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the methods described herein. There is also described herein a computer readable medium having stored thereon the computer program having stored thereon computer readable instructions which, when carried out by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the methods described herein. Brief description of the drawings Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 schematically illustrates an example of a computer system;Figure 2 depicts a general embodiment of a telecommunications system according to the present invention.Figure 3 depicts a method of managing access to one or more services for a user equipment (UE) on a network.Figure 4 depicts a method of providing a user equipment with access to one or more services of a non-terrestrial network by a network management entity.Figure 5 depicts a part of particular implementation a telecommunications system of the current invention.Figure 6 depicts a particular implementation a telecommunications system of the current invention.Figure 7 depicts a particular impl