UDR Change Requests for Suppressing Self-Update Notifications
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current resource models in communication networks require inefficient signaling and are prone to race conditions and notification leakage/loss when a network function updates data in a Unified Data Repository (UDR), necessitating frequent updates to subscription notifications to avoid self-notification.
Innovation Solution
A method where a network function sends a change request to the UDR with a subscription identifier, instructing the UDR to mute notifications for its own data changes, allowing the UDR to check and only send notifications to non-muted subscriptions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a network function updates data in the UDR and receives notifications for its own changes, then it can detect data changes, but it causes unnecessary signaling overhead and potential race conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the notification filtering logic from the network function and implements it in the UDR. When a network function sends a change request to the UDR, the UDR checks whether the network function is the subscriber of the changed data and suppresses notifications accordingly. This eliminates the need for network functions to manage subscription updates before and after data changes, reducing signaling complexity while maintaining reliable notification delivery for legitimate subscribers.
Solution Approach 2:
The UDR acts as an intermediary that mediates between data-changing network functions and subscribed network functions. It receives change requests, determines whether the changing network function is also a subscriber, and selectively suppresses or forwards notifications. This intermediary approach centralizes the filtering logic and eliminates race conditions that would occur if network functions tried to manage their own subscriptions.
2Ease of operation
If a network function frequently updates subscription notifications to avoid self-notification, then it prevents notification loops, but it increases signaling overhead and creates race conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service by allowing network functions to simply send data change requests to the UDR without needing to pre-manage or post-update their subscription status. The UDR autonomously determines whether to suppress notifications based on whether the network function is the subscriber. This eliminates the need for network functions to perform additional signaling operations to manage their own notifications, reducing both complexity and time loss.
3Reliability
If the UDR sends notifications to all subscribed network functions regardless of who made the change, then it ensures complete notification delivery, but it causes notification leakage for self-updates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making the notification delivery behavior specific to each network function-subscription pair. The UDR checks whether the network function that made the data change is the same as the network function that subscribed to the data. Notifications are suppressed only for self-updates while maintaining complete delivery for updates made by other network functions. This localized filtering ensures both completeness and accuracy of notification delivery.
Data Source
AI summary
A method by a network function communicating with a unified data repository (UDR) of a communications network. The method including receiving from the UDR a subscription identifier for a subscription by the network function to receive data change notifications from the UDR. The method also including sending toward the UDR a change request containing an instruction to change data in the UDR and containing the subscription identifier to signal the UDR to not send to the network function a notification regarding this change to the data.