NF Binding Indication for Exclusive Resource Redundancy Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing 3GPP specifications do not allow binding indications to indicate that a resource is exclusively bound to a specific Network Function (NF) service instance, leading to issues in scenarios like service software upgrades, maintenance, and resource synchronization when NFs lose connection to shared databases.
Innovation Solution
Introduce a mechanism allowing NF service instances to indicate 'no-redundancy' using a new data type 'redundancy-info' with an enumeration 'redundancy-level' to specify that a resource is exclusively bound to a specific NF service instance, including a validation timer for the redundancy level.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If binding indication is used to indicate resource sharing scope, then data replication management is optimized, but it cannot indicate exclusive binding to a specific NF service instance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a new parameter 'redundancy-info' with enumeration values ('no-redundancy', 'nfservinst', 'nfserviceset') to the existing binding indication mechanism. This parameter change enables the system to distinguish between exclusive binding and shared binding scenarios, resolving the contradiction by expanding the parameter space while maintaining the original binding indication functionality.
2Productivity
If NF service instances share resources, then resource utilization is improved, but data integrity cannot be maintained during service software upgrades and maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by allowing different redundancy levels for different resources or contexts within the same NF service instance. The 'redundancy-info' parameter can be set locally for specific resources to indicate whether they should be shared or exclusively bound, enabling fine-grained control over resource sharing while maintaining data integrity for critical resources during upgrades and maintenance.
3Reliability
If NFs lose connection to shared databases, then resource synchronization is disrupted, but exclusive binding can maintain data consistency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the redundancy indication capability from the database connection dependency by introducing the 'redundancy-info' parameter in binding indications. This allows NF service instances to declare exclusive binding relationships independently of database connection status, maintaining data consistency even when NFs lose connection to shared databases, while simplifying resource management through explicit binding declarations.
Data Source
AI summary
The embodiments herein relate to populating the information related to redundancy. In some embodiments, there proposes a method (400) performed by a first network function (201). The method (400) may comprise the step of transmitting (S401), to a second network function (202), a first message including a first parameter indicating no-redundancy to indicate that a first context is exclusively bound to a specific Network Function (NF) service instance within the first network function (201). The specific NF service instance may be identified in a binding indication included in the first message. The embodiments herein may allow the NF service instance to indicate the resource is exclusively bound to this NF service instance, there is no redundancy for the concerning resource.