US-12621641-B2 - Service function chaining exposure in 5G networks

US12621641B2US 12621641 B2US12621641 B2US 12621641B2US-12621641-B2

Abstract

There is provided a computer-implemented method for enabling an Application Function (AF) to request User Plane capabilities of a Mobile Network Operator (MNO). The method comprises requesting, by the AF from a Network Exposure Function (NEF), one or more UP capability groups for a first application identifier (App-ID) and/or one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID, providing, from the NEF to a network entity, information associated with the one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and/or one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID, storing, at the network entity, the one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and/or one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID; and providing an indication from the NEF to the AF to indicate that the request has been accepted.

Inventors

Miguel Angel Muñoz De La Torre Alonso
Maria Luisa Mas Rosique

Assignees

TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL)

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20210527
Priority Date: 20210205

Claims (17)

1 . A computer-implemented method at a Network Exposure Function (NEF) for enabling an Application Function (AF) to request User Plane (UP) capabilities of a Mobile Network Operator (MNO), the method comprising: receiving a request from the AF for at least one of: one or more UP capability groups for a first application identifier (App-ID); and one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID; providing, to a network entity, information associated with the at least one of the one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and the one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID; providing an indication to the AF to indicate that the request for the at least one of the one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and the one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID has been accepted, when the at least one of the one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and the one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID is stored in the network entity.
2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the request from the AF comprises receiving a provision request message from the AF, wherein the provision request message comprises: an identifier of the AF; a list of target App-IDs; and the at least one of the one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and a predetermined set of UP capabilities.
3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the provision request message further comprises identifiers of one or more users to which the provision request applies.
4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein prior to requesting the one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and/or the one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID, the computer-implemented method further comprises: retrieving, from the network entity and responsive to a request by the AF, information associated with at least one of: available UP capability groups; and available UP capabilities; and providing, to the AF, the information associated with the at least one of the available UP capability groups and the available UP capabilities.
5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein retrieving the information associated with the available UP capability groups and the available UP capabilities from the network entity comprises: triggering a query request message to the network entity, wherein the query request message comprises an indication to retrieve the information associated with the available UP capability groups and the available UP capabilities; and receiving, in a query response message, the information associated with the available UP capability groups and the available UP capabilities from the network entity.
6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the request from the AF for information associated with the at least one of the available UP capability groups and the available UP capabilities comprises a fetch request message that includes an identifier of the AF.
7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the fetch request message further includes at least one of one or more target App-IDs and identifiers of one or more users to which the fetch request applies.
8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein retrieving the requested information associated with at least one of the available UP capability groups and the available UP capabilities comprises retrieving the information based on the at least one of the one or more target App-IDs and the identifiers of the one or more users to which the fetch request applies in the fetch request message.
9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the information associated with the available UP capabilities is information associated with supported available UP capabilities and comprises: a list of available service functions; and one or more available configuration options for each of the plurality of available service functions.
10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more available configuration options are associated with at least one of: a type of service function; and a traffic management action.
11 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the available supported UP capabilities may be categorized into groups comprising one of: a Service Function (SF) type; and a SF category.
12 . The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , wherein the SF category comprises: a TCP Optimizer SF type; and/or a QUIC Optimizer SF; and/or a Video Optimizer SF.
13 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the information associated with available supported UP capability groups comprises a list of available service chains, wherein each available service chain is represented by a Chain-ID and is a combination of ordered service functions.
14 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising: providing a second storage request message to the network entity, wherein the second storage request message comprises: the identifying information of the AF; and/or the request for at least one of the one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and the one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID; and receiving an indication from the network entity indicating that the storage has been successfully performed.
15 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the network entity comprises a Unified Data Repository (UDR).
16 . An apparatus configured to implement a Network Exposure Function (NEF), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry; and a memory communicatively coupled to the processing circuitry, the memory comprising computer readable program instructions, that, when executed by the processing circuitry, causes the apparatus to: receive a request from an Application Function (AF) for at least one of: one or more User Plane (UP) capability groups for a first application identifier (App-ID); and one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID; provide, to a network entity, information associated with the at least one of the one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and the one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID; and provide an indication to the AF to indicate that the request for the at least one of the one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and the one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID has been accepted when the at least one of the one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and the one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID is stored in the network entity.
17 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer program code stored thereon that, when executed by processing circuitry of an apparatus configured to implement a Network Exposure Function (NEF), causes the apparatus to: receive a request from an Application Function (AF) for at least one of: one or more User Plane (UP) capability groups for a first application identifier (App-ID); and one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID; provide, to a network entity, information associated with the at least one of the one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and the one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID; and provide an indication to the AF to indicate that the request for the at least one of the one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and the one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID has been accepted when the at least one of the one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and the one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID is stored in the network entity.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to the field of traffic management in 5G networks. In particular, the present disclosure relates to methods and systems for enabling an Application Function to request User Plane capabilities of a Mobile Network Operator. BACKGROUND 1 Reference Architecture FIG. 1 shows the 5G reference architecture as defined by 3GPP. As shown in the drawing, the architecture includes a Network Exposure Function (NEF), a Unified Data Repository (UDR), a Policy Control Function (PCF), a Session Management Function (SMF), and a User Plane Function (UPF). 1.1 Network Exposure Function (NEF) The Network Exposure Function (NEF) supports different functionalities. Specifically in the context of this disclosure, the NEF can support a set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) (e.g. Sponsored Data, Quality of Service (QoS), etc.) which allow a Content Provider to request policies from the Mobile Network Operator (MNO). 1.2 Unified Data Repository (UDR) The Unified Data Repository (UDR) stores data grouped into distinct collections of subscription-related information, including Subscription Data, Policy Data, Structured Data for Exposure, and Application Data. 1.3 Policy Control Function (PCF) The Policy Control Function (PCF) supports a unified policy framework to govern the network behaviour. Specifically, the PCF provides PCC (Policy and Charging Control) rules to the PCEF (Policy and Charging Enforcement Function), i.e. the Session Management Function (SMF)/User Plane Function (UPF) that enforces policy and charging decisions according to provisioned PCC rules. 1.4 Session Management Function (SMF) The Session Management function (SMF) supports different functionalities, for example the SMF can receive PCC rules from the PCF and configure the UPF accordingly. 1.5 User Plane Function (UPF) The User Plane function (UPF) supports handling of user plane traffic based on the rules received from the SMF, e.g. packet inspection and different enforcement actions such as traffic steering. 1.6 Service Function Chaining The term service chaining refers to steering of traffic across a set of ordered set of network functions. Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has specified a solution for dynamic service chaining called Service Function Chaining which can be implemented by different technologies such as software-defined networking (SDN). The service functions are deployed in the N6 reference point between UPF and the external packet data network. Examples of such service functions are Traffic Optimization appliances such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) optimizers or Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) proxies, Firewalls, traffic probes, Carrier-grade Network Address Translators (CGNATs) or Content Filtering control functions. There is a new 3GPP Release18 Work Item proposed which is now under discussion: Support for Service Function Chaining in 5G System. SUMMARY In 3GPP Release 13, there was a study of FMSS (Flexible Mobile Service Steering) in 3GPP TR 22.808. In the study there are several use cases referring to the use of service function chaining beyond (S)Gi interface. However, during the normative phase, the only service requirements in TS22.101 are relate to traffic steering on the (S)Gi interface with the assumption that (S)Gi-LAN is “outside of the 3GPP scope”. Currently, TS 22.101 explicitly states that (S)Gi-LAN is “out of 3GPP scope”, which by transitivity implies that N6-LAN is also “outside of 3GPP scope”. Due to this, it is not possible to allow third parties to request utilisation of specific service function and service function chaining for their applications. One aspect of the present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method for enabling an Application Function (AF) to request User Plane (UP) capabilities of a Mobile Network Operator (MNO). The method comprises: requesting, by the AF from a Network Exposure Function (NEF), at least one of: one or more UP capability groups for a first application identifier (App-ID), and one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID; providing, from the NEF to a network entity, information associated with the at least one of: one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID; storing, at the network entity, the at least one of one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID; and providing an indication from the NEF to the AF to indicate that the request for the at least one of: one or more UP capability groups for the first App-ID and one or more UP capabilities for the first App-ID has been accepted. Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a communication system configured to enable an AF to request UP capabilities of a MNO. The communication system comprises the AF, a NEF, and a network entity. The communication system is configured to: request, by the AF from the NEF, at least one of: one