NF Service Discovery With Historical Quality Metric Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional 5G core networks lack the ability for Network Function (NF) consumers to selectively specify and receive historical quality metrics for Network Function producers, limiting informed decision-making in NF service selection.
Innovation Solution
Introduce new parameters in discovery request and response messages allowing NF consumers to specify desired quality metrics and historical values, enabling more precise NF service selection based on operational metrics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If conventional discovery request messages are used without quality metric specifications, then the NRF can provide basic NF service discovery, but NF consumers cannot make informed decisions based on historical quality metrics
Solution Approach 1:
The discovery request message is segmented into distinct parameter components: service type identification, quality metric specifications, and historical value requests. This allows the NRF to process only the requested information types, reducing unnecessary data transmission while maintaining message structure integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
NF consumers perform preliminary actions by specifying their quality metric requirements and historical value needs before the NRF generates the discovery response. This preliminary specification enables the NRF to pre-filter and prepare only the relevant quality metric data, improving efficiency and reducing information loss.
2Loss of information
If the NRF provides all quality metrics for all NF instances, then complete information is available, but message size and processing overhead increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The NRF applies local quality by providing quality metric information selectively - only for NF instances that match the consumer's specified criteria and only for the specific metric types requested. This localized information provision maintains completeness where needed while reducing overall data volume through targeted filtering.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements partial action by providing exactly the quality metrics and historical values that are requested, rather than providing all possible data. This partial provision optimizes the balance between information completeness and data transmission efficiency by matching supply with demand.
3Reliability
If historical quality metric values are included in discovery responses, then NF consumers can make more accurate selections, but response message complexity and size increase
Solution Approach 1:
Historical quality metric values are extracted as a separate optional component in the discovery response message, distinct from current quality metrics. This extraction allows consumers to request historical data only when needed, maintaining response structure simplicity while enabling enhanced selection accuracy when historical context is required.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure provides new parameters for discovery request messages and discovery response messages communicated between a Network Function (NF) consumer (an NFc) (100) and a Network Repository Function (NRF) (130) in a core network. The new parameters support the discovery and selection of one or more NF services to be consumed by the NFc. More particularly, when the NFc initiates a discovery request, it identifies a particular NF service type to consume to the NRF. Included in the discovery request message are the new parameters specifying a particular set of one or more quality metrics the NRF is to report to the NFc in the discovery response message. The quality metrics include the most current measurement values for the specified NF service, but may also include historical measurement values spanning a time duration that is specified by the NFc in the discovery request message.