Method and apparatus for subscribing to network capability change notifications - Patents.com

Abstract

[0010] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method and apparatus for subscribing to notifications of changes in network capabilities. The method for subscribing to notifications of changes in network capabilities may include sending a subscription message to a monitoring network function (S101) and receiving a notification from the monitoring network function to notify of a change from the network function whose status needs to be monitored (S102). The subscription message indicates a type of the network capability and further indicates attributes of the network capability. The attributes include a serving scope that indicates one or more target served areas of the network capability whose status needs to be monitored. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a simple and quick implementation for subscribing to notifications of changes in network capabilities may be achieved. In particular, both the response time and accuracy of notifications about changes in the subscribed network capability may be improved.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates generally to technology for communication systems, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for subscribing to notifications of changes in network capabilities. [Background technology]

[0002] This section presents aspects that may facilitate a better understanding of the present disclosure. Accordingly, statements in this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.

[0003] In a communication network, a network function (NF) is typically connected to multiple other network functions to provide services to and / or receive services from the other network functions.

[0004] When a network function (i.e., as an NF service consumer) requires a service from another unconnected / unknown network function with a particular functionality / characteristic, the NF service consumer may send a subscription to the monitoring network function for any other possible network function with such particular functionality / characteristic. When the monitoring network function finds / discovers any change in any other network function (i.e., subscribed network function) with such particular functionality / characteristic, the monitoring network function sends a notification about the change in the subscribed network function to the NF service consumer. Then, in response to the change notification (i.e., any kind of notification / message indicating a change), the NF service consumer may be connected to the newly added or changed functionality / characteristic subscribed network function and work with the subscribed network function that receives the service from the subscribed network function and the NF service consumer may not be connected to the failed subscribed network function.

[0005] Such a procedure may be called NFStatusSubscribe, as defined in 3rd Generation Partnership Project Technical Specification (3GPP TS) 29.510 (V16.2.0). In 3GPP TS, 29.510 (V16.2.0), NF service consumers are required to specify the "subscrCond" attribute of the "SubscriptionData" object type.

[0006] However, some of the parameters related to "subscrCond" cannot cause a fast and accurate notification of the subscribed network functions. For example, when using a specific NFinstance Id to subscribe, a new registered NF may only be used after the cache TTL (time to live) has passed and a new discovery has been made. As another example, when using NF / NF service type to subscribe, for one subscribed NF / NF service type change, there may be quite a lot of notification messages for all NF / NF services with the same type (e.g., one PLMN may have hundreds of AMFs, SMFs, etc.), but most of the notification messages may never be used for the requested NF / NF service. The PLMN may be referred to as a Public Land Mobile Network, the AMF may be referred to as an Access and Mobility Management Function, and the SMF may be referred to as a Session Management Function. Summary of the Invention

[0007] This Summary is provided to present a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0008] Some aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other problems. Various embodiments are proposed herein that address one or more of the problems disclosed herein. That is, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, a simple and fast implementation for subscribing to the status of a network capability may be achieved. In particular, both the response time and accuracy of notifications about subscribed network capabilities may be improved.

[0009] A first aspect of the present disclosure provides a method for subscribing to notifications of changes in a network node. The method may include sending a subscription message to a monitoring network function and receiving notifications from the monitoring network function to notify of changes from the network function whose status needs to be monitored. The subscription message may indicate a type of the network function and may further indicate attributes of the network function. The attributes may include a serving scope indicating one or more target served areas of the network function whose status needs to be monitored.

[0010] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a monitoring network function may monitor changes in multiple network functions, and any one of the multiple network functions that belong to that type and have that attribute may be determined as a subscribed network function whose status needs to be monitored.

[0011] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the subscription message may further include a first value range for the attribute, and the subscribed network function may further have a second value range for the attribute corresponding to the first value range.

[0012] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second range of values ​​may include at least a portion of the first range of values.

[0013] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first range of values ​​may include all of the second range of values.

[0014] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second range of values ​​may be the same as the first range of values.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the notification may indicate a registration of a subscribed network function whose status needs to be monitored.

[0016] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the monitoring network function may include a network function repository function (NRF). The network function may include at least one of a unified data management (UDM), a policy control function (PCF), an access and mobility management function (AMF), or a session management function (SMF).

[0017] A second aspect of the disclosure provides a method performed in a monitoring network function for subscribing to notifications of changes in a network function. The method may include receiving a subscription message. The subscription message may indicate a type of the network function and may further indicate attributes of the network function. The attributes may include a serving scope indicating one or more target served areas of the network function whose status needs to be monitored. The method may further include determining the network functions whose status needs to be monitored based on the type of the network function and the attributes of the network function, and sending notifications to notify of changes from the network functions whose status needs to be monitored.

[0018] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a monitoring network function may monitor changes in multiple network functions, and any one of the multiple network functions that belong to that type and have that attribute may be determined as a subscribed network function whose status needs to be monitored.

[0019] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the subscription message may further include a first value range for the attribute, and the subscribed network function may further have a second value range for the attribute corresponding to the first value range.

[0020] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second range of values ​​may include at least a portion of the first range of values.

[0021] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first range of values ​​may include all of the second range of values.

[0022] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second range of values ​​may be the same as the first range of values.

[0023] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the notification may indicate a registration of a subscribed network function whose status needs to be monitored.

[0024] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the monitoring network function may include a network function repository function (NRF). The network function may include at least one of a unified data management (UDM), a policy control function (PCF), an access and mobility management function (AMF), or a session management function (SMF).

[0025] A third aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus for a network function comprising a processor and a memory including instructions executable by the processor, the network function being operable to implement a method according to any embodiment of the first aspect.

[0026] A fourth aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus for monitoring network functions, comprising a processor and a memory including instructions executable by the processor, the monitoring network function being operable to implement a method according to any embodiment of the second aspect.

[0027] A fifth aspect of the present disclosure provides a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, the computer program being executable by an apparatus to cause the apparatus to perform a method according to any embodiment of the first and / or second aspect.

[0028] A sixth aspect of the present disclosure provides a network function comprising a sending unit configured to send a subscription message to a monitoring network function and a receiving unit configured to receive a notification from the monitoring network function to notify of a change from the network function whose status needs to be monitored. The subscription message indicates a type of the network function and may further indicate attributes of the network function. The attributes may include a serving scope indicating one or more target served areas of the network function whose status needs to be monitored.

[0029] A seventh aspect of the present disclosure provides a monitoring network function comprising a receiving unit configured to receive a subscription message. The subscription message indicates a type of the network function and may further indicate attributes of the network function. The attributes may include a serving scope indicating one or more target served areas of the network function whose status needs to be monitored. The monitoring network function further comprises a determining unit configured to determine the network functions whose status needs to be monitored based on the type of the network function and the attributes of the network function, and a sending unit configured to send a notification to notify of a change from the network function whose status needs to be monitored.

[0030] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a simple and fast implementation for subscribing to notifications of changes in network capabilities may be achieved. In particular, both the response time and accuracy of notifications about subscribed network capabilities may be improved.

[0031] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the more detailed description of several embodiments of the present disclosure in the accompanying drawings. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the same reference numerals generally refer to the same components. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0032] [Figure 1] 1 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a subscription procedure. [Diagram 2] 1 is an exemplary flow chart illustrating a method for subscribing to notifications of changes in network capabilities according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] 1 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method performed by a monitoring network function to subscribe to notifications of changes in a network function, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 1 is an exemplary diagram showing further details of functions and procedures according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing functional blocks according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] 1 is a block diagram illustrating a computer-readable storage medium according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the units of a network function 100. FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the units of a monitoring network function 200. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0033] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, other embodiments are included within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, and the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as being limited to only the embodiments described herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided as examples to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0034] In general, all terms used herein should be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the art, unless a different meaning is clearly given and / or implied from the context in which the term is used. All references to elements, devices, components, means, steps, etc., should be openly interpreted as referring to at least one instance of the element, device, component, means, step, etc., unless otherwise specified. The steps of any method disclosed herein need not be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step, and / or if it is implied that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, whenever appropriate. Similarly, any advantage of any of the embodiments may be applied to any other embodiment, and vice versa. Other objects, features, and advantages of the included embodiments will become apparent from the following description.

[0035] References to features, advantages, or similar language throughout this specification do not imply that all features and advantages that can be realized using this disclosure should or are in any single embodiment of this disclosure. Instead, language referring to features and advantages is understood to mean that a particular feature, advantage, or characteristic described with respect to one embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of this disclosure. Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of this disclosure may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present disclosure may be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other cases, additional features and advantages may be recognized in some embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0036] As used herein, the term "network" or "communications network / system" refers to a network / system conforming to any suitable communications standard, such as New Radio (NR), long-term evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), etc. Furthermore, communications between terminal devices and network nodes in a communications network may be performed according to any suitable generation of communications protocols, including, but not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), 4G, 4.5G, 5G communications protocols, and / or any other protocols either currently known or developed in the future.

[0037] The terms "function", "node", "network function", "network node" or "network side node" refer to a network device / apparatus / entity with access function in a communication network through which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The node / function may include a base station (BS), an access point (AP), a multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), a server node / function (service function server / application server (SCS / AS), group communication service application server (GCS AS), application function (AF)), an exposure node (service function exposure function (SCE), network exposure function (NEF), etc.), a controller, any kind of monitoring / storage network function such as a session management function (SMF), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a unified data management (UDM), a policy control function (PCF), a network data analytics service (NWDAF), a user plane function (UPF), a network function repository function (NRF), or any other suitable device in a wireless communication network. The BS may be, for example, a Node B (Node B or NB), Evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), Next Generation Node B (gNodeB or gNB), Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Radio Header (RH), Remote Radio Head (RRH), relay, femto, pico, or other low power node.

[0038] Any of these network functions may be implemented as network elements on dedicated hardware, as software instances running on dedicated hardware, or as virtualized functions instantiated on a suitable platform, e.g., on a cloud infrastructure. Virtualizing may mean creating virtual versions of equipment, devices, which may include virtualized hardware platforms, storage devices, and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization may apply to a network function or components of a network function and relates to implementations in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components, e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions in one or more networks, virtual machines or virtual containers running on one or more physical processing resources (e.g., on a cloud infrastructure).

[0039] Still further examples of network nodes comprise multi-standard radio (MSR) radio equipment such as an MSR BS, a network controller such as a radio network controller (RNC) or base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a transmission point, a transmitting node, a positioning node, etc. However, more generally, a network node may represent any suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, configured, and / or operable to enable and / or provide terminal device access to a wireless communication network or to provide some service to terminal devices that have accessed the wireless communication network.

[0040] The term terminal device encompasses a device capable of communicating with a network node, such as a base station, or with another wireless device by transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals. Thus, the term terminal device encompasses, but is not limited to, mobile phones, fixed or mobile wireless devices for machine-to-machine communication, integrated or embedded wireless cards, externally plugged-in wireless cards, vehicles, etc.

[0041] As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a terminal device, also called an IoT device, may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring, sensing, and / or measurement, etc., and transmits results of such monitoring, sensing, and / or measurement, etc. to another terminal device and / or network equipment. The terminal device, in this case, may be a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) device, sometimes called a Machine-Type Communication (MTC) device in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) context.

[0042] As one particular example, the terminal device may be a UE implementing the 3GPP Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machines, or home or personal appliances, e.g., personal wearables such as refrigerators, televisions, clocks, etc. In other scenarios, the terminal device may represent a vehicle or other equipment, e.g., a medical device, that is capable of monitoring, sensing, and / or reporting on its operating status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0043] As used herein, terms such as "first", "second", etc. refer to different elements. The singular forms "a" and "an" include the plural unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprise", "comprising", "have", "having", "include" and / or "including", as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components, etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof. The term "based on" should be read as "based at least in part on". The terms "one embodiment" and "an embodiment" should be read as "at least one embodiment". The term "another embodiment" should be read as "at least one other embodiment". Other definitions, whether explicit or implicit, may be included below.

[0044] FIG. 1 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a subscription procedure.

[0045] Figure 1 is the same as Figure 5.2.2.5.2-1: Subscription to NF Instances in the Same PLMN in 3GPP TS29.510. This service operation (NFStatusSubscribe) is used to create a subscription so that an NF service consumer can request to be notified when a given set of NF instances according to some filter criteria are registered / deregistered with the NRF or when they are modified, and is used to create a subscription to a specific NF instance so that an NF service consumer can request to be notified when the profile of such an NF instance is modified or when an NF instance is deregistered from the NRF.

[0046] Subscription to notifications for an NF instance is performed by creating a new individual resource under the collection resource "subscriptions". The operation is invoked by issuing a post request on a URI (Uniform Resource Indicator) representing the "subscription" resource.

[0047] In step 1 in FIG. 1, the NF service consumer sends a POST request to a resource URI representing a "subscription" collection resource.

[0048] The request body contains data indicating the type of notification the NF service consumer is interested in receiving, the request body also contains a callback URI when the NF service consumer is prepared to receive the actual notification from the NRF (see NFStatusNotify operation in 5.2.2.6 of 3GPP TS29.510), and the request body may contain a validity time suggested by the NF service consumer, representing the time span during which the subscription is desired to be kept active.

[0049] An NF service consumer may request the creation of a subscription to a specific NF instance or to a set of NF instances, the set being determined according to different criteria specified in the request body, e.g., the plmn id, or the 'subscrCond' attribute of the 'SubscriptionData' object type (see clause 6.1.6.2.16 of 3GPP TS 29.510).

[0050] When a subscription request is for a set of NFs, the authorization attributes of the NF instances in the set may be different, such that authorization of the subscription may be positive for only some of the NF instances in the set, in which case a subscription to the set of NFs may be accepted by the NRF, but the NF instances in the set that are not authorized for the NF service consumer that requested the subscription will not result in triggering any notification events from the NRF to the NF service consumer.

[0051] In step 2a of Figure 1, if successful, "201 Created" is returned. The response contains data related to the created subscription, including the validity time determined by the NRF, after which the subscription will become invalid. When the subscription expires, the NF service consumer creates a new subscription in the NRF if it wishes to continue receiving status notifications.

[0052] In step 2b of Figure 1, if the subscription creation fails at the NRF due to an error in the SubscriptionData JSON object in the request body, the NRF returns a "400 Bad Request" status code with a ProblemDetails IE giving details of the error. JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation and IE stands for information element.

[0053] If the subscription creation fails in the NRF due to an NRF internal error, the NRF returns a "500 Internal Server Error" status code with a ProblemDetails IE giving details of the error. The "4xx / 5xx" in Figure 1 refers to any kind of status code that can be used to indicate an error (e.g., 400, 500 above).

[0054] Although Figure 1 shows subscriptions to NF instances in the same public land mobile network (PLMN), it should be understood that subscriptions to NF instances in different PLMNs are also possible and that intermediate forwarding NRFs may also exist.

[0055] When an NF (SMF / AMF / UDM, etc.) subscribes to change notifications (i.e., any kind of notification / message indicating a change) to an NRF, the NF may use subscribing to one specific NF type to the NRF, e.g., UDM, PCF, AMF, SMF. Such a subscription using an NF type has the following advantages:

[0056] The implementation can be simple and fast. A new registered NF in a PLMN that meets the discovery criteria can be used immediately, compared to using an NF instance to subscribe, the new registered NF can be used only after the cache TTL expires and a new discovery. The UDM can subscribe to the AMF type for AMF events related to UE location changes when the UE moves between different AMFs. In the future, when the UPF is introduced with the SBI (Service Based Interface) architect, it is easy for the SMF to use the new added UPF immediately.

[0057] An NF consumer may subscribe to the NRF for changes of all NF instances with a certain NF type, e.g., the UDM / NWDAF may subscribe to an NF type AMF to get any new / changed AMF / SMF instances to provision an event subscription targeting a UE group or any UE or all UEs, or, depending on the deployment, it may be necessary for the SMF to pre-discover peer NFs such as UPF or PCF before PDU session establishment, and in such use cases, the SMF may subscribe for new online UPF instances so that it can establish a PFCP association with the new online UPF instance. When monitoring a particular NF type, subscriptions may only be applied to the PLMN level, which may potentially generate a large number of notifications of changes that may be irrelevant, e.g., the NWDAF may subscribe to a group fixed CIoT devices deployed in a certain geographic area, and thus notifications for AMF / SMF instances outside the target area are irrelevant and should be avoided.

[0058] For this kind of subscription, there may be one conditional attribute, i.e., plmnId, for the subscribed NF / NF service. However, since one PLMN may contain hundreds or thousands of NFs with the same NF type (e.g., in one PLMN, the capacity for the first two years of 5G commercial rollout may have 500 AMFs, 600 SMFs, thousands of UPFs, 300 UDMs, 300 PCFs, and for NF services, the number is several times larger), for one subscribed NF / NF service type change, there may be quite a few notification messages for all NFs / NF services with the same type, even in the same PLMN, but most of those notification messages may never be used for the requested NF / NF service. "Subscription to all NFs / NF services with the same NF / NF service type in one PLMN" may be quite demanding in terms of resources in the NRF and in terms of network traffic of the resulting notifications, and the requester NF also needs to remember and maintain these NFs / NF services that may never be used.

[0059] FIG. 2 is an exemplary flow chart illustrating a method for subscribing to notifications of changes in network capabilities according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0060] As shown in FIG. 2, the method may be performed in a network function 100 that is an NF service consumer.

[0061] The method may include step S101, sending a subscription message to a monitoring network function, and step S102, receiving a notification from the monitoring network function to notify of a change from the network function whose status needs to be monitored. The subscription message indicates a type of the network function and may further indicate attributes of the network function.

[0062] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, by using the type and attributes of additional network capabilities to be subscribed to, a simple and fast implementation for subscribing to the status of network capabilities can be achieved. In particular, new registered NFs in a PLMN that meet the discovery criteria can be used immediately, and the additional attributes can be used to limit the number of network capabilities to be subscribed to. Thus, both the response time and accuracy of notifications about subscribed network capabilities can be improved.

[0063] In embodiments of the present disclosure, any type of attribute for the subscribed network capabilities may be utilized.

[0064] In particular, in real network operation, for one requester NF (NF service consumer), the used / subscribed peer NFs / NFServices are mostly located in one area, therefore, it is preferable to add one attribute for "Serving Area" / "Serving Scope" to limit the subscribed NF / NF Service Type to one area of ​​PLMN instead of the whole PLMN, i.e., location granularity to PLMN condition in NF subscription request can be achieved.

[0065] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the attributes may include a serving scope. In particular, the serving scope may include at least one serving area of ​​the network function, in particular at least one target served area of ​​the network function whose status needs to be monitored.

[0066] Further, an exemplary attribute may be added in the subscription message as part of SubscriptionData. The attribute name may be servingScope and the data type may be array (string). The attribute may be optional and the cardinality may be "1..N". If present, this attribute indicates the target served area of ​​the NF instance whose status needs to be monitored. Note that an NF instance may explicitly indicate the served area in its NF profile when it registers with the NRF. When this IE is present, the NRF will only monitor NF instances that indicate at least one of the served areas in the list. If an NF instance does not indicate any served area in its NF profile, the NF instance will not be monitored.

[0067] For the Nnrf_NFManagement API, the "servingScope" in "SubscriptionData" may be written as "type:array;items:type:string;minItems:1".

[0068] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the monitoring network function may monitor changes in the plurality of network functions, and any one of the plurality of network functions that belong to a type and have an attribute may be determined as a subscribed network function whose status needs to be monitored. The changes in the plurality of network functions may include adding / registering a new network function, deleting an existing network function, or changing the status of an existing network function, etc.

[0069] It should be understood that the term "monitor" should be interpreted generally. That is, any network function in a network that can obtain information / attributes / status of any other network function may be understood as having the function / capability of monitoring the other network functions. A monitoring network function may actively request notification of changes in other network functions or may passively receive information from other network nodes and then store them for later providing subscription services.

[0070] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 1, the monitoring network function may include a network function repository function (NRF).

[0071] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the subscription message may further include a first value range for the attribute, and the subscribed network function may further have a second value range for the attribute corresponding to the first value range.

[0072] That is, different matching criteria may be applied to further specify the subscribed network capabilities.

[0073] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second range of values ​​may include at least a portion of the first range of values.

[0074] This matching criterion may be called ANY (i.e. any of the areas in servingArea in SubscriptionData (in the subscription message) is part of servingScope in NFProfile (stored in the monitoring network function)).

[0075] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first range of values ​​may include all of the second range of values.

[0076] This matching criterion is sometimes called ALL (i.e., all areas in the servingArea in SubscriptionData are part of the servingScope in NFProfile, but the servingScope in NFProfile can contain further areas).

[0077] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second range of values ​​may be the same as the first range of values.

[0078] This matching criterion is sometimes called STRICT (i.e., the servingArea in SubscriptionData matches the servingScope in the NFProfile).

[0079] It should be understood that these matching criteria may or may not be mutually exclusive. Additionally, any other criteria may be possible.

[0080] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the notification may indicate registration of a subscribed network feature.

[0081] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, to facilitate NF management and discovery operations, a "served area / range" concept is introduced with smaller granularity, where a served area may be pre-configured, e.g., a geographical area consists of multiple TAIs (Tracking Area Indicators). Any NF may explicitly indicate the areas it can serve in its NF profile when it registers with the NRF.

[0082] In particular, such an embodiment of "location granularity to PLMN conditions during NF subscription request" provides the following advantages:

[0083] A simple and fast implementation for subscribing to the status of network functions can be achieved. New registered NFs in a PLMN that meet the discovery criteria, especially for NF type UPF, can be immediately notified as subscribed network functions. Subscriptions in one area of ​​one PLMN are further limited to reduce the demand on resources in the NRF and also on the network traffic of the resulting notifications. The need to store and maintain these never used NFs / NF service types in one PLMN is reduced. In particular, the attributes are aligned with the location granularity of the NFprofile and Nnrf_NFDiscovery services during the Nnrf_NFManagment service registration operation for compatibility.

[0084] FIG. 3 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method performed by a monitoring network function for subscribing to notifications about changes in the network function, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0085] As shown in FIG. 3, the method may be performed in a monitoring network function 200, such as an NRF.

[0086] The method may include step S201, receiving a subscription message, where the subscription message indicates a type of network function and may further indicate attributes of the network function; step S202, determining network functions whose status needs to be monitored based on the type of network function and the attributes of the network function; and step S203, sending a notification to notify of a change from the network function whose status needs to be monitored.

[0087] For example, corresponding to a method performed by network function 100, the NRF may receive a subscription message from network function 100. The NRF may compare the subscription message with NFprofiles stored in the NRF from registered network functions and then determine which network functions registered in the NRF are subscribed network functions. The comparison may be based on any of the criteria described above, such as "ANY", "ALL", "STRICT", etc. The NRF may send a notification to network function 100 about the subscribed network functions.

[0088] It should be understood that any other monitoring / management / control / storage network functionality may provide such a subscription service.

[0089] FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram showing further details of functions and procedures according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0090] In step 1 in FIG. 4, when NF1 (NF-Type1) starts operating, NF1 sends an HTTP PUT request (nfInstanceid(NF1), NFProfile(NF1, PLMN id, servingScope1)) to the NRF for registration.

[0091] In step 2 in FIG. 4, the NRF accepts the registration and sends the created (NFProfile (NF1) in 201.

[0092] In step 3 in FIG. 4, NF1 sends a subscription message (Subscription(SubscriptionData(NF-Type2, PLMN id, servingScope1)), such as an HTTP POST request, to the NRF to subscribe to NF-Type2 with restricted area: PLMN id, servingScope1. The servingScope is introduced according to the present disclosure as a new IE (i.e., an attribute with a first value range).

[0093] In step 4 in FIG. 4, the NR accepts the subscription and sends 201 Created.

[0094] In step 5 in Fig. 4, a new NF3 (NF-Type2) starts working and NF3 sends an HTTP PUT request (nfInstanceid(NF3), NFProfile(NF3, PLMN id, servingScope1)) to the NRF for registration. An example of “STRICT” is shown where NF3 has an attribute with a second value range equal to the first value range.

[0095] In step 6 in FIG. 4, the NRF accepts the registration and sends a 201 Created.

[0096] In step 7 in Figure 4, the NRF sends an HTTP POST request {nfStatusNotificationUri(NF1)}(NotificationData(NFProfile(NF3)) to NF1. A new NF3 is added with servingScope1 in the PLMN id.

[0097] In step 8 in FIG. 4, NF1 sends 204 No Content and stores the new NF3 information.

[0098] In step 9 in FIG. 4, if the selection criteria are met, NF1 uses the new NF3 for the new request.

[0099] It should be understood that NF3 (NF-Type2) may have another serving scope 2 that corresponds to serving scope 1 under other criteria, such as "ANY", "ALL", etc. Furthermore, Type 2 and Type 1 may or may not be the same.

[0100] An example of an improved definition of type SubscriptionData may further be given, in which the above-described attributes are further added.

[0101] Thus, the definition of type SubscriptionData includes an attribute. The attribute name may be servingScope and the data type may be array (string). The attribute may be optional and the cardinality may be "1..N". If present, this attribute indicates the target served area of ​​the NF instance whose status needs to be monitored. Note that an NF instance may explicitly indicate a served area in its NF profile when it registers with the NRF. When this IE is present, the NRF will only monitor NF instances that indicate at least one of the served areas in the list. If an NF instance does not indicate any served area in the NF profile of the NF instance, the NF instance is not monitored.

[0102] Further, an exemplary improvement to the "Nnrf_NFManagement API" is also shown, which may further include the above-mentioned attributes. The attribute name may be servingScope, and the attribute type may be an array with items of type string. The minimum number of items may be 1.

[0103] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating functional blocks according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0104] An apparatus for network function 100 may comprise a processor 101 and a memory 102 containing instructions executable by the processor 101. The network function 100 is operable to implement a method according to any of the embodiments described above, such as those shown in Figures 1, 2, 4.

[0105] For example, an apparatus for network function 100 may be operable to send subscription messages to a monitoring network function and to receive notifications of changes to the subscribed network function from the monitoring network function. The subscription message may indicate the type of network function and further indicate attributes of the network function.

[0106] An apparatus for monitoring network functionality 200 may comprise a processor 201 and a memory 202 containing instructions executable by the processor 201. The monitoring network functionality 200 is operable to implement a method according to any of the embodiments described above, such as those shown in Figures 1, 3, 4.

[0107] For example, an apparatus for monitoring network functions 200 may be operable to receive a subscription message, determine the subscribed network functions, and send notifications about changes to the subscribed network functions. The subscription message may indicate the type of network function and further indicate attributes of the network function.

[0108] The processor 101, 201 may be any type of processing component, such as one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware that may include digital signal processors (DSPs), dedicated digital logic, etc. The memory 102, 202 may be any type of storage component, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc.

[0109] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a computer-readable storage medium according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0110] As shown in Figure 6, a computer-readable storage medium 700 stores a computer program 701. The computer program 701 is executable by an apparatus to cause the apparatus to perform any of the methods described above, such as the methods illustrated in Figures 1-4.

[0111] The computer readable storage medium 700 may be configured to include memory, such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disk, optical disk, floppy disk, hard disk, removable cartridge, or flash drive.

[0112] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the units of the network function 100.

[0113] 7, network function 100 may comprise a sending unit 1001 configured to send a subscription message to the monitoring network function, and a receiving unit 1002 configured to receive notifications from the monitoring network function to notify of changes from the network function whose status needs to be monitored. The subscription message indicates the type of the network function and may further indicate attributes of the network function. The attributes may include a serving scope indicating one or more target served areas of the network function whose status needs to be monitored.

[0114] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the units of the surveillance network function 200.

[0115] 8, the monitoring network function 200 may comprise a receiving unit 2001 configured to receive a subscription message, where the subscription message indicates a type of the network function and may further indicate attributes of the network function, a determining unit 2002 configured to determine the network functions whose status needs to be monitored based on the type of the network function and the attributes of the network function, and a sending unit 2003 configured to send a notification to notify of a change from the network function whose status needs to be monitored. The attributes may include a serving scope indicating one or more target served areas of the network function whose status needs to be monitored.

[0116] The term unit may have its conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and / or electronic devices and may include, for example, electrical and / or electronic circuits, devices, modules, processors, memories, logical solid state devices and / or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for performing respective tasks, procedures, computations, output and / or display functions, etc., such as those described herein.

[0117] With these units, the server function, e.g., the network function 100, the monitoring network function 200, may not require a fixed processor or memory, and any computing and storage resources may be configured from at least one network node / device / entity / apparatus in the communication system. Virtualization technology and network computing technology may be further introduced to improve the utilization efficiency of network resources and the flexibility of the network.

[0118] In particular, these network functions, e.g., network function 100, monitoring network function 200, may be implemented either as network elements on dedicated hardware, as software instances running on dedicated hardware, or as virtualized functions instantiated on a suitable platform, e.g., on a cloud infrastructure.

[0119] According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, a simple and fast implementation for subscribing to the status of a network capability may be achieved. In particular, both the response time and accuracy of notifications about subscribed network capabilities may be improved.

[0120] In general, various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. For example, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Although various aspects of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be shown and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other diagrammatic representations, it is well understood that these blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general-purpose hardware or controller or other computing device, or some combination thereof, as non-limiting examples.

[0121] It should therefore be appreciated that at least some aspects of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in a variety of components, such as integrated circuit chips and modules. It should therefore be appreciated that the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be realized in an apparatus implemented as an integrated circuit, which may include circuitry (and possibly firmware) for implementing at least one or more of a data processor, a digital signal processor, a baseband circuit, and a radio frequency circuit that are configurable to operate in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0122] It should be appreciated that at least some aspects of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in computer-executable instructions, such as in one or more program modules executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, a program module includes routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types when executed by a processor in a computer or other device. The computer-executable instructions may be stored on a computer-readable medium, such as a hard disk, an optical disk, a removable storage medium, a solid-state memory, a RAM, etc. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments. Furthermore, the functionality may be implemented in whole or in part in firmware or hardware equivalents, such as integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc.

[0123] The present disclosure explicitly includes any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein, or includes any generalization thereof. Various modifications and adaptations of the above exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may become apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the above description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, any and all modifications will still fall within the scope of the non-limiting exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. 1. A method for subscribing to notifications of changes in network capabilities, comprising: Sending a subscription message to a monitoring network function (S101), the subscription message indicating a type of the network function and further indicating attributes of the network function, the attributes including, as part of SubscriptionData, a serving scope indicating one or more target served areas of the network function whose status needs to be monitored; receiving notifications from said monitoring network functions to notify of changes from said network functions whose status needs to be monitored (S102); A method comprising:

2. the monitoring network function monitors a plurality of network functions for changes; The method of claim 1 , wherein any one of said plurality of network functions belonging to said type and having said attribute is determined as a subscribed network function whose status needs to be monitored.

3. the subscription message further comprises a first value range for the attribute; The method of claim 2 , wherein the subscribed network functions further have a second range of values ​​for the attribute that corresponds to the first range of values.

4. the second range of values ​​includes at least a portion of the first range of values; and / or the first range of values ​​includes all of the second range of values; and / or The method of claim 3 , wherein the second range of values ​​is the same as the first range of values.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the notification indicates a registration of a subscribed network function whose status needs to be monitored.

6. the monitoring network function includes a Network Function Repository Function (NRF); 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the network functions include at least one of a Unified Data Management (UDM), a Policy Control Function (PCF), an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or a Session Management Function (SMF).

7. 1. A method, performed in a monitoring network function, for subscribing to notifications of changes in a network function, comprising: Receiving a subscription message (S201), the subscription message indicating a type of the network function and further indicating attributes of the network function, the attributes including, as part of SubscriptionData, a serving scope indicating one or more target served areas of the network function whose status needs to be monitored; determining (S202) the network function whose status needs to be monitored based on the type of the network function and the attributes of the network function; Sending notifications to notify of changes from the network functions whose status needs to be monitored (S203); A method comprising:

8. the monitoring network function monitors a plurality of network functions for changes; The method of claim 7 , wherein any one of said plurality of network functions belonging to said type and having said attribute is determined as a subscribed network function whose status needs to be monitored.

9. the subscription message further comprises a first value range for the attribute; The method of claim 8 , wherein the subscribed network functions further have a second range of values ​​for the attribute that corresponds to the first range of values.

10. the second range of values ​​includes at least a portion of the first range of values; and / or the first range of values ​​includes all of the second range of values; and / or The method of claim 9 , wherein the second range of values ​​is the same as the first range of values.

11. 11. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein the notification indicates a registration of a subscribed network function whose status needs to be monitored.

12. the monitoring network function includes a Network Function Repository Function (NRF); 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the network functions include at least one of a Unified Data Management (UDM), a Policy Control Function (PCF), an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or a Session Management Function (SMF).

13. A processor (101); a memory (102) containing instructions executable by said processor (101); An apparatus for network functionality (100), comprising: The network function (100), Sending a subscription message to a monitoring network function (S101), the subscription message indicating a type of the network function and further indicating attributes of the network function, the attributes including, as part of SubscriptionData, a serving scope indicating one or more target served areas of the network function whose status needs to be monitored; receiving notifications from the monitoring network function to notify of changes from the network function whose status needs to be monitored (S102); 36. An apparatus operable to perform the steps of:

14. A processor (201); A memory (202) containing instructions executable by said processor (201); An apparatus for monitoring network functionality (200), comprising: The monitoring network function (200) Receiving a subscription message (S201), the subscription message indicating a type of network function and further indicating attributes of the network function, the attributes including, as part of SubscriptionData, a serving scope indicating one or more target served areas of the network function whose status needs to be monitored; determining (S202) the network function whose status needs to be monitored based on the type of the network function and the attributes of the network function; Sending notifications to notify of changes from the network functions whose status needs to be monitored (S203); 36. An apparatus operable to perform the steps of:

15. A computer readable storage medium (700) having stored thereon a computer program (701), the computer program being executable by an apparatus to cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

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