NRF Instance Selection and Failover via Geographical Location
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current communication systems lack efficient mechanisms for NRF instance selection and failover in case of primary NRF unreachability, leading to suboptimal service continuity and increased operational complexity for operators.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves a method and apparatus that determine a preferred NRF instance and backup instances based on geographical location, data center, and network slice information, providing these details to NRF consumers through HTTP headers, enabling seamless failover and registration updates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single preferred NRF instance is used for service registration and management, then service continuity and reliability are improved, but the system lacks failover capability when the primary NRF becomes unreachable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-configuring backup NRF instances and their associated information (indication of backup NRF) before any failure occurs. When a NRF consumer receives service information from a preferred NRF, it also receives the indication of a backup NRF instance. This allows the consumer to immediately switch to a backup instance if the preferred NRF becomes unreachable, ensuring service continuity without requiring complex real-time discovery mechanisms.
2Adaptability or versatility
If backup NRF instances are pre-configured and indicated to consumers, then failover capability is improved, but device complexity and operational burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by enabling NRF consumers to autonomously manage failover without operator intervention. The consumer receives the indication of a backup NRF instance along with service information and can independently determine when to switch to the backup instance based on reachability of the preferred NRF. This eliminates the need for complex operator-managed failover policies and reduces operational burden while maintaining adaptability.
3Reliability
If NRF consumers continuously monitor preferred NRF availability, then service reliability is improved, but signaling overhead and network traffic increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the backup NRF indication as an intermediary mechanism that reduces signaling overhead. Instead of continuous monitoring, the consumer receives the backup NRF information once during service information reception and uses it as a pre-arranged fallback option. This eliminates the need for frequent availability check signaling while ensuring reliable failover capability, thereby reducing energy consumption and network traffic.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided an apparatus, said apparatus comprising means for, at a network repository function, NRF, receiving, from a NRF consumer, a registration request comprising first information, determining, based on the first information, a preferred NRF instance for the NRF consumer and at least one backup NRF instance for use by the NRF consumer if the preferred NRF instance is unreachable and providing an indication of the determined preferred NRF and an indication of the determined at least one backup NRF to the NRF consumer.