System and method for shared sessions in communication networks

Abstract

A system, apparatus and method are provided for supporting shared sessions in communication networks. The system, apparatus and method include interoperation between a User Equipment and serving nodes of a communication network. The serving nodes communicate with at least one anchor node of the communication network. In some implementations a shared session identifier and User Equipment identifying component are used to identify a User Equipment within a shared session. In some implementations, a paging notification is used to inform one or more target User Equipment that of a downlink message relating to the shared session.

1 .- 28 . (canceled) 
     
     
         29 . A method for execution by user equipment (UE) of a radio access network (RAN), the method comprising:
 transmitting, to a serving node of the RAN, an uplink transmission, the uplink transmission including a UE identifier (UEID), a session identifier that identifies a shared session for a group of one or more UEs, and uplink user plane data;   receiving, from the serving node, a downlink transmission, the downlink transmission including a security challenge;   deriving a challenge response from at least the security challenge and cryptographic keying material associated with the shared session; and   transmitting, to the serving node, the challenge response.   
     
     
         30 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein the uplink transmission includes a random access preamble and the downlink transmission includes a random access response, the random access response including the security challenge and an allocation of uplink radio resources for transmission of the challenge response. 
     
     
         31 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein the uplink transmission includes a random access preamble and the downlink transmission includes a random access response, the random access response including an allocation of downlink radio resources for a further downlink transmission, the further downlink transmission including the security challenge and an allocation of uplink radio resources for transmission of the challenge response. 
     
     
         32 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein the uplink transmission includes a logical channel identifier (LCID) and the session identifier includes the LCID. 
     
     
         33 . A User Equipment (UE) of a radio access network (RAN), the UE comprising:
 a radio interface;   a processor; and   a non-transitory memory for storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the UE to be configured to be operable to:
 transmit, using the radio interface, an uplink transmission, the uplink transmission including a UE identifier (UEID), a session identifier that identifies a shared session for a group of one or more UEs, and uplink user plane data; 
 receive, using the radio interface, a downlink transmission, the downlink transmission including a security challenge; 
 derive a challenge response from at least the security challenge and cryptographic keying material associated with the shared session; and 
 transmit, using the radio interface, the challenge response. 
   
     
     
         34 . The UE according to  claim 33 , wherein the uplink transmission including a random access preamble and the downlink transmission including a random access response, the random access response including the security challenge and an allocation of uplink radio resources for transmission of the challenge response. 
     
     
         35 . The UE according to  claim 33 , wherein the uplink transmission includes a random access preamble and the downlink transmission includes a random access response, the random access response including an allocation of downlink radio resources for a further downlink transmission, the further downlink transmission comprising the security challenge and an allocation of uplink radio resources for transmission of the challenge response. 
     
     
         36 . The UE according to  claim 33 , wherein the UEID includes a session identifying component and a UE identifying component and the session identifier includes the session identifying component. 
     
     
         37 . The UE according to  claim 33 , wherein the uplink transmission further includes a logical channel identifier (LCID) and the session identifier includes the LCID. 
     
     
         38 . A system comprising a serving node and an anchor node, the serving node configured to:
 receive from a user equipment (UE), an uplink transmission, the uplink transmission including a UE identifier (UEID), a session identifier that identifies a shared session for a group of one or more UEs, and uplink user plane data;   transmit to the UE, a downlink transmission, the downlink transmission including a security challenge;   receive from the UE, a challenge response to the security challenge; and   transmit to an anchor node associated with the UEID, an uplink RAN protocol data unit (PDU), the uplink RAN PDU including the UEID, the session identifier, the uplink user plane data, the security challenge and the received challenge response; and   the anchor node configured to:   derive an expected challenge response from at least the security challenge and cryptographic keying material associated with the shared session; and,   transmit to another network node, the uplink user plane data after determining that the received challenge response matches the expected challenge response.   
     
     
         39 . The system according to  claim 38 , wherein the uplink transmission includes a random access preamble and the downlink transmission includes a random access response, the random access response including the security challenge and an allocation of uplink radio resources for transmission of the challenge response. 
     
     
         40 . The system according to  claim 38 , wherein the uplink transmission includes a random access preamble and the downlink transmission includes a random access response, the random access response including an allocation of downlink radio resources for a further downlink transmission, the further downlink transmission including the security challenge and an allocation of uplink radio resources for transmission of the challenge response. 
     
     
         41 . The system according to  claim 38 , wherein the UEID includes a session identifying component and a UE identifying component and the session identifier includes the session identifying component. 
     
     
         42 . The system according to  claim 38 , wherein the uplink transmission includes a logical channel identifier (LCID) and the session identifier includes the LCID.