Abstract

Private 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) fifth-generation (5G), or Private 5G (P5G), networks are local networks or local area networks (LANs) that are built using 3GPP 5G wireless technology to carry traffic within a specified area, such as within an organization, on a campus, or within an industrial space. A growing number of enterprise and public sector companies are considering building their own P5G networks to address their need for clean spectrum, high bandwidth, low latency, higher availability, and increased visibility. With the introduction of P5G networks, there may be scenarios where both Wi-Fi and P5G networks are present in the same area. When both technologies are available in the same location, current User Equipments (UEs) are designed and configured to prefer the Wi-Fi network for data connectivity. However, there are circumstances that would benefit from the use of P5G connectivity instead of a Wi-Fi network. Techniques are presented herein that support three new mechanisms to inform a UE about the presence of a P5G network and list the services that could benefit from using such media access instead of Wi-Fi when the UE enters the P5G network coverage area. The first mechanism is based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons broadcasted by Wi-Fi access points (APs), the second mechanism leverages stand-alone BLE tags, while the third mechanism employs Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) router advertisement (RA) options. The different mechanisms require minimal changes to existing devices, as the underlying technologies that are used are already implemented on both commercially available access points (APs) and UEs. In addition, such mechanisms provide several benefits in terms of power savings and the possibility of immediately transitioning to a P5G network when coverage is available.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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