KR-102962603-B1 - INTERWORKING SUPPORT DEVICE AND INTERWORKING SUPPORT METHOD FOR NF SERVICE

KR102962603B1KR 102962603 B1KR102962603 B1KR 102962603B1KR-102962603-B1

Abstract

The present invention proposes an NF service interoperability support device and an NF service interoperability support method that can significantly improve the processing delay of signaling (SBI messages) within SCP by realizing specific technologies for rapidly processing SBI messages in SCP, such as analyzing the liquidity/non-liquidity of SBI messages and reducing the message size through changes in the content of non-liquid messages.

Inventors

이동진
김지선

Assignees

에스케이텔레콤 주식회사
텔코웨어 주식회사

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20201023

Claims (11)

In the first Service Agent of the first NF, a change operation execution unit that performs a message change operation to reduce the size of the message by changing a non-transparent portion of the message to be changed among the messages of the first NF; and An NF service interlocking support device characterized by including a communication unit that performs the message modification operation in the first Service Agent of the first NF to reduce the size of the modified message and transmits it to a Service Mesh network, thereby enabling the modified message to be received by the second Service Agent of the second NF through the Service Mesh network.
In Article 1, The first Service Agent of the above-mentioned first NF, when transmitting the change message, transmits it by indicating an identifier (Indication) that can identify that it is a changed message, An NF service interlocking support device characterized by enabling a second Service Agent of the second NF, which receives a message through the Service Mesh network, to determine that the received message is a modified message when the identifier is displayed in the message, and to transmit it to the second NF after performing a restoration operation to restore the size of the modified message.
In Article 1, The above change operation execution unit performs the message change operation based on a pre-set change control rule, and The above change control rule is, An NF service interoperability support device characterized by being configured based on a change table by a message controller that generates a change table to reduce the message size by identifying non-transparent messages or parts within a message through the analysis of messages transmitted and received via the Service Mesh network.
In Paragraph 3, An NF service interlocking support device characterized by further including a reporting unit that reports the communication result through the Service Mesh network to the message controller regarding the change message transmitted to the Service Mesh network, so that the message controller can use the reported communication result when updating the change table.
In Article 1, The above-mentioned change operation execution unit is, An NF service interlocking support device characterized by, when a message received through the Service Mesh network is determined to be the change message, performing a restoration operation to restore the size of the change message by reversing the message change operation performed by the Service Agent of the transmitting side that transmitted the change message, and then transmitting it to the first NF.
A table generation unit that generates a change table to reduce the message size by identifying non-dynamic parts within a message and modifying the specific parts within the message through message analysis transmitted and received via a Service Mesh network that processes communication between NF services; and A message controller device characterized by including an agent control unit that sets a change control rule for each Service Agent connected to the Service Mesh network based on the above change table, and enables each Service Agent to perform a message change operation to reduce the size of the message by changing a specific part of the message within the message transmitted to the Service Mesh network according to the set change control rule, and a restoration operation to restore the size of the specific part of the message within the message received through the Service Mesh network.
In Article 6, The above Agent control unit is, For each Service Agent connected to the above Service Mesh network, change control rules are set that are selectively configured based on the above change table, and The above-mentioned optionally configured change control rule is, A message controller device characterized by including at least one of priority information related to the ratio of size change of a message, distinction information distinguishing a change algorithm that reduces or restores the size of a message, and change information mapping a part of the message to be changed and code information to replace said part within the message.
In Article 7, The change control rule set for a specific Service Agent among each Service Agent connected to the above Service Mesh network is, A message controller device characterized by including change information selected for the type of message that the specific Service Agent communicates with another Service Agent based on the above change table.
In Article 8, The change information of the change control rule set in the specific Service Agent mentioned above is, A message controller device characterized by being configured in pairs of transmitted and received messages for each type of message that the aforementioned specific Service Agent communicates with other Service Agents.
A change operation execution step in the first Service Agent of the first NF, which performs a message change operation to reduce the size of the message by changing a non-transparent portion of the message to be changed among the messages of the first NF; and A method for supporting NF service interoperability, characterized by including a communication step in which, at the first Service Agent of the first NF, a message modification operation is performed to reduce the size of the modified message and the modified message is transmitted to a Service Mesh network, so that the modified message is received by the second Service Agent of the second NF through the Service Mesh network.
A table creation step for creating a change table that reduces the message size by identifying non-dynamic parts within a message and modifying the specific parts within the message through the analysis of messages transmitted and received via a Service Mesh network that handles communication between NF services; and A method of operation of a message controller characterized by including an agent control step that enables each Service Agent connected to the Service Mesh network to perform a message modification operation to reduce the size of a message by modifying a specific part of a message within a message transmitted to the Service Mesh network according to the configured change control rule, and a restoration operation to restore the size of a specific part of a message within a message received through the Service Mesh network.

Description

NF Service Interworking Support Device and NF Service Interworking Support Method The present invention relates to Service Communication Proxy (SCP) technology that enables communication between NF services. In 5G, a network structure is defined to provide end-to-end support for terminals, base stations (access), cores, and servers. It separates the functions of control signaling and data transmission and reception, which were performed in combination by a single node (e.g., S-GW, P-GW, etc.) in existing LTE (4G), and defines a network structure that distinguishes the control signaling function area (Control Plane) and the data transmission and reception function area (User Plane). At this time, the control nodes of the Control Plane (CP) in 5G can be defined as the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) that controls the wireless access of terminals, the Policy Control Function (PCF) that manages/controls policies such as terminal information, subscription service information per terminal, and billing, the Session Management Function (SMF) that manages/controls sessions for using data services per terminal, the Network Exposure Function (NEF) that is responsible for the function of sharing information with the external network, the Unified Data Management / Authentication Function (UDM/AUSF) that manages/controls the user's subscriber DB and authentication, the Network Repository Function (NRF) that manages/controls information about each Network Function (NF) within the network, and the Changing Function (CHHF) that processes billing for subscribers. In 5G, the data node of the User Plane (UP) can be defined as a User Plane Function (UPF) that transmits and receives data between a terminal and a server on an external service network (e.g., the Internet) through a session with the terminal based on the control (interlocking) of the SMF. Also, in 5G, the control nodes of the Control Plane and the data nodes of the User Plane will both be referred to as network nodes (Network Functions). As such, 5G defines NFs that perform specific functions and defines them to interoperate/connect based on communication using SBI (Service Based Interface) between NFs. In addition, in recent 5G, a Service Communication Proxy (SCP) is newly defined to enable communication between various NF services communicating via SBI to be processed as a mesh structure. SCP can be viewed as serving as the ‘SBI bus’ in SBA (Service Based Architecture), or 5G Architecture, and is composed of a Mesh structure that processes all SBI messages between NFs. An SBI message refers to a data packet containing application layer headers such as HTTP, HTTP/2, and QUIC. The domain of SCP can be divided into an SCP Controller that centrally controls the interoperability between NF services within a single SBA Cluster, a Service Mesh network, and multiple Service Agents that enable each of the multiple NF services configured within the SBA Cluster to enter the Service Mesh network and communicate/interoperate with other NF services. As such, SCP is an NF specialized in Mesh Routing processing functions that handle communication between NF services by transmitting SBI messages through the Service Mesh. Meanwhile, SBI messages are HTTP and String-based messages, and their size is inevitably larger than existing ones. Consequently, as the number of NF services (NF/Pods) increases, the volume of relatively large SBI messages that SCP must process is rapidly increasing, and SCP requires technology capable of quickly processing and delivering such large signaling (SBI messages). However, under current standards, there is no specific technology to quickly process relatively large SBI messages in SCP. In this invention, we aim to significantly improve the processing delay of signaling (SBI messages) within SCP by proposing a specific technology for rapidly processing relatively large SBI messages in SCP. Figure 1 is an example diagram showing the 5G Architecture and SCP structure. Figure 2 is a schematic example diagram showing a situation where signaling (SBI message) processing delay occurs within the existing SCP. Figure 3 is a schematic example illustrating a situation in which the processing delay of signaling (SBI message) within SCP is improved when the proposed technology of the present invention is applied. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an NF service interlocking support device according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a message controller device according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 is an illustrative diagram showing an example of analyzing liquidity/non-liquidity portions within an SBI message (e.g., Request) in the present invention. FIGS. 7 and 8 show an example of a change table defined in the present invention and a combination of Manipulation (Proc. ID/Repo ID) used during message change operations for each Service Agent. F