Handling of Extensible Authentication Protocol Based Non-Access Stratum Authentication Failures

In a 5G System (5GS), the network initiates and controls the authentication method, meaning that the network determines whether the user equipment (UE) and the network use EAP-based NAS authentication or 5G AKA-based NAS authentication for the mutual authentication of the UE and the network. The specification for 5GS presumes that in a 5G standalone case, the UE supports both EAP-based NAS authentication and 5G AKA-based NAS authentication. However, not all wireless carriers have required support for EAP-based NAS authentication. As a result, many UEs manufactured do not support EAP-based NAS authentication. This publication describes techniques for preventing an authentication failure in 5GS when the network selects an authentication method (e.g., EAP-based NAS authentication) that the UE does not support