US-12627578-B2 - Communication control method, user equipment, and core network apparatus

US12627578B2US 12627578 B2US12627578 B2US 12627578B2US-12627578-B2

Abstract

According to an aspect, a communication control method includes deciding, at a user equipment, a communication condition to be satisfied by a network slice desired by the user equipment, and transmitting, at the user equipment, a creation request to a core network apparatus, the creation request being a message requesting to create the network slice and including information indicating the communication condition.

Inventors

Mitsutaka Hata
Masato Fujishiro

Assignees

KYOCERA CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240202
Priority Date: 20210805

Claims (15)

1 . A communication control method comprising: deciding, at a user equipment, a communication condition to be satisfied by a network slice desired by the user equipment; transmitting, at the user equipment, a creation request to a core network apparatus, the creation request being a message requesting to create the network slice and comprising information indicating the communication condition; receiving, at the user equipment, a creation success notification from the core network apparatus after transmitting the creation request, the creation success notification comprising a slice identifier configured to identify the network slice created based on the communication condition; creating, at the core network apparatus and a base station, the network slice; and transmitting, at the user equipment when the creation success notification comprises information indicating that at least one condition of a plurality of the communication conditions for the network slice is not satisfied, an update request configured to update the network slice to the core network apparatus or the base station in such a manner that the at least one condition of the plurality of the communication conditions is satisfied.
2 . The communication control method according to claim 1 , wherein the communication condition comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a requested service quality indicating a service quality to be satisfied by the network slice, a communication path of user data in the network slice, an application running on the network slice, a scheduled time for using the network slice, and an authentication method required for using the network slice.
3 . The communication control method according to claim 1 , further comprising using, at the user equipment, the network slice identified by the slice identifier.
4 . The communication control method according to claim 1 , wherein the creation success notification comprises cause information indicating whether a cause that the at least one condition of the plurality of the communication conditions is not satisfied is due to the core network apparatus or due to the base station, and wherein the transmitting the update request comprises transmitting, at the user equipment, the update request to the core network apparatus when the cause information indicates the core network apparatus, and transmitting, at the user equipment, the update request to the base station when the cause information indicates the base station.
5 . The communication control method according to claim 1 , further comprising receiving, at the user equipment, information indicating that the network slice is updated, from the base station or the core network apparatus.
6 . The communication control method according to claim 1 , further comprising receiving, at the user equipment, a creation failure notification from the core network apparatus after transmitting the creation request, the creation failure notification comprising information indicating that the network slice is failed to be created.
7 . The communication control method according to claim 6 , wherein the creation failure notification further comprises information indicating a network apparatus belonging to an existing network slice that satisfies the communication condition, and wherein the communication control method further comprises accessing, at the user equipment, the network apparatus.
8 . The communication control method according to claim 6 , wherein the creating the network slice is performed by the core network apparatus and the base station, and wherein the communication control method further comprises transmitting, at the user equipment, a creation re-request to the core network apparatus or the base station in response to the receiving the creation failure notification, the creation re-request re-requesting to create the network slice.
9 . The communication control method according to claim 8 , wherein the creation failure notification comprises cause information indicating whether a cause that the network slice is failed to be created is due to the core network apparatus or due to the base station, and wherein the transmitting the creation re-request comprises transmitting, at the user equipment, the creation re-request to the core network apparatus when the cause information indicates the core network apparatus, and transmitting, at the user equipment, the creation re-request to the base station when the cause information indicates the base station.
10 . The communication control method according to claim 1 , wherein the deciding the communication condition comprises deciding, at an application layer of the user equipment, the communication condition, and wherein the transmitting the creation request comprises transmitting, at a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) layer of the user equipment, the creation request comprising the communication condition provided from the application layer.
11 . The communication control method according to claim 10 , further comprising providing, at the NAS layer, the creation success notification to an Access Stratum (AS) layer of the user equipment.
12 . The communication control method according to claim 10 , further comprising providing, at the NAS layer, a creation failure notification to an AS layer of the user equipment.
13 . A communication control method comprising: receiving, at a core network apparatus, a creation request from a user equipment, the creation request requesting to create a network slice desired by the user equipment, wherein the creation request comprises information indicating a communication condition decided by the user equipment and to be satisfied by the network slice, wherein the network slice comprises a core network part created by the core network apparatus and a Radio Access Network (RAN) part created by a base station, and wherein the communication control method further comprises: transmitting, at the core network apparatus, information required for creating the RAN part to the base station, based on the communication condition when the core network apparatus successfully creates the core network part, and transmitting, at the core network apparatus, a creation failure notification comprising information indicating that the network slice is failed to be created to the user equipment when the core network apparatus fails to create the core network part or receives information indicating that the RAN part is failed to be created from the base station.
14 . The communication control method according to claim 13 , further comprising transmitting, at the core network apparatus, a creation success notification to the user equipment when the core network apparatus receives information indicating that the RAN part is successfully created from the base station, the creation success notification comprising a slice identifier configured to identify the network slice created based on the communication condition.
15 . A user equipment comprising: a circuitry configured to decide a communication condition to be satisfied by a network slice desired by the user equipment, the network slice being created at a core network apparatus and a base station, a transceiver configured to transmit a creation request to a core network apparatus, the creation request being a message requesting to create the network slice and comprising information indicating the communication condition, and a receiver configured to receive a creation success notification from the core network apparatus after transmitting the creation request, the creation success notification comprising a slice identifier configured to identify the network slice created based on the communication condition, wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit, when the creation success notification comprises information indicating that at least one condition of a plurality of the communication conditions for the network slice is not satisfied, an update request configured to update the network slice to the core network apparatus or the base station in such a manner that the at least one condition of the plurality of the communication conditions is satisfied.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation based on PCT Application No. PCT/JP2022/029638, filed on Aug. 2, 2022, which claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-129308 filed on Aug. 5, 2021. The content of which is incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a communication control method, a user equipment, and a core network apparatus that are used in a mobile communication system. BACKGROUND OF INVENTION In the specifications of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), which is a standardization project for mobile communication systems, Network Slicing has been defined (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1). The network slicing is a technique for virtually dividing a physical network constructed by a communication operator to creating a plurality of virtual networks (network slices). For example, in a communication operator, a network slice can be created for each service type such as enhanced Mobile Broad Band (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC), and massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC). In the specifications of 3GPP, network slices created by a communication operator are preconfigured for a user equipment. The user equipment selects a desired network slice among the network slices and notifies a network of the selected network slice to use the network slice. CITATION LIST Non-Patent Literature Non-Patent Document 1: 3GPP TS 38.300 V16.1.0 SUMMARY According to a first aspect, a communication control method includes deciding, at a user equipment, a communication condition to be satisfied by a network slice desired by the user equipment; and transmitting, at the user equipment, a creation request to a core network apparatus, the creation request being a message requesting to create the network slice and including information indicating the communication condition. According to a second aspect, a communication control method includes receiving, at a core network apparatus, a creation request from a user equipment, the creation request requesting to create a network slice desired by the user equipment, in which the creation request includes information indicating a communication condition decided by the user equipment and to be satisfied by the network slice. According to a third aspect, a user equipment includes a processor that performs the communication control method according to the first aspect. According to a fourth aspect, a core network apparatus includes a processor that performs the communication control method according to the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobile communication system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a user equipment (UE) according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a base station (gNB) according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a core network apparatus (AMF) according to an embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a protocol stack of a radio interface of a user plane handling data. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a protocol stack of a radio interface of a control plane handling signaling (control signal). FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating network slicing according to an embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a Registration procedure according to an embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a PDU session establishment procedure according to an embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a PDU session modification procedure according to an embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a RAN Configuration Update procedure according to an embodiment. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an AMF Configuration Update procedure according to an embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a basic operation according to an embodiment. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating Operation Example 1 according to an embodiment. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating Operation Example 2 according to an embodiment. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating Operation Example 3 according to an embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS However, the network slice created by the communication operator may not necessarily satisfy a communication condition desired by the user equipment. Therefore, the present disclosure makes it possible to create a network slice that satisfies a communication condition desired by a user equipment. A mobile communication system according to an embodiment is described with reference to the drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference signs. Configuration of Mobile Communication System First, in an embodiment, a configuration of a mobile communication system is described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration