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Apple files patent for securing 5G connection resume requests

Apple describes a method for 5G base stations to verify the security level of a phone trying to reconnect to the network. The system checks a specific security code version in the phone's request to ensure the connection is protected before the base station asks the previous tower for the user's data.

Why it mattersThis improves the security of how phones reconnect to 5G networks, preventing unauthorized devices from hijacking active connections.

In the filing’s own words

System, methods, and apparatus for protecting radio resource control (RRC) resume request message can include sending, by a target gNB (T-gNB), a system information (SI) message indicating a new message authentication code-integrity (MAC-I) capability for the T-gNB to a user equipment (UE), the UE in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive (RRC_Inactive) state; receiving, from the UE, an RRC resume request (RRCResumeRequest) message and an indication of a MAC-I version, the RRCResumeRequest message requesting connection to the T-gNB; sending, from the T-gNB to a source gNB (S-gNB), a Retrieve UE Context Request message indicating the MAC-I version; receiving, from the S-gNB, a Retrieve UE Context Response message; and sending, to the UE, a message based on the Retrieve UE Context Response message received from the S-gNB.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1 - 30. (canceled)

Facts

Company
Apple (Apple Inc.)
Official title
RADIO RESOURCE CONTROL RESUME REQUEST MESSAGE PROTECTION
Publication number
US20260292506A1
Application number
19480065
Filed
May 11, 2023
Published
Sep 24, 2026
Inventors
6
Claims
21

Classified under

H04W 12/106 Electricity & electronicsH04W 74/0833 Electricity & electronicsH04W 76/27 Electricity & electronics

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.