CN109673037B

CN109673037B - Network function discovery method and equipment

Info

Publication number: CN109673037B
Application number: CN201710966994.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 孙海洋; 吴义壮
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-10-17
Filing date: 2017-10-17
Publication date: 2021-04-20
Anticipated expiration: 2037-10-17
Also published as: CN109673037A; WO2019076276A1

Abstract

The application discloses a network function discovery method and equipment. In the method, an NRF receives a first discovery request, wherein the first discovery request comprises level information corresponding to a target NF; the NRF sends a second discovery request to a central database according to the level information; the central database determines the information of a target NF, the information of the NF comprises the identity identification information of the NF, the determined level of the target NF is one level corresponding to the level information, and the information of the target NF is sent to the NRF; the NRF sends a discovery response, wherein the discovery response comprises information of the target NF. In the method, the NRF acquires the NF information from the central database after receiving the discovery request, so that the NRF is not required to be subjected to multi-layer deployment, and a requester is not required to perform a complicated NRF selection process when sending the NF discovery request.

Description

Network function discovery method and equipment

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a Network Function (NF) discovery method and device.

Background

A Service Based Architecture (SBA) of a fifth generation mobile communication system (5G) may be as shown in fig. 1, and the architecture introduces a network function storage function (NRF) mainly used for supporting the following functions: 1) supporting a service discovery function, receiving an NF (network node) discovery request, and sending information of a target NF to a requester; 2) NF profiles are maintained for available NFs and their supported services. In the prior art, NRFs are deployed in multiple layers, including:

a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) level NRF, which may be configured with information of NFs in the entire PLMN; alternatively, only the information of the NF at the PLMN level may be configured to provide the network element discovery service at the PLMN level. For example, a Unified Data Management (UDM) is a PLMN-level network element, and if an NF discovery request is used to request a discovery service of the UDM, a PLMN-level NRF may provide the discovery service for the NF.

A shared-slice (NRF) level, which may be configured with information of NFs in a set of network slices; alternatively, only information of NF of the shared slice level may be configured for providing a discovery service of a common (common) network element. For example, an access and mobility management function (AMF) is a shared slice level network element, and if an NF discovery request is used to request a discovery service of the AMF, the NRF at the shared slice level may provide the discovery service for the same.

A slice-specific (slice-specific) level NRF, i.e., information configured with NFs in one network slice; alternatively, only information of NF at a specific slice level may be configured. For example, a Session Management Function (SMF) is a network element at a special slice level, and if an NF discovery request is used to request a discovery service of an SMF, an NRF at the special slice level may provide the discovery service for the NF.

Therefore, a requester initiating the NF discovery process needs to be configured with information of NRFs of each level in advance, and when initiating the NF discovery process, the requester needs to select a corresponding NRF according to the level of a target NF requested to be discovered, and send an NF discovery request to the selected NRF. For example, if the AMF requests to provide the discovery service of the UDM, it is necessary to select an NRF at a PLMN level and send an NF discovery request, and if the NF discovery request is sent to an NRF at a special slice level, the NRF at the special slice level cannot provide the discovery service for the NRF because the information of the NF at the PLMN level is not stored.

For a requester who initiates the NF discovery process, a large amount of NRF information needs to be configured, and each time the NF discovery service is initiated, a corresponding NRF needs to be selected, which is cumbersome.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a NF (non-volatile memory) discovery method and device, which are used for solving the problem that when a NF sends a NF discovery request, the NF discovery request can be sent to a selected NRF only through a more complicated NRF selection process.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a NF discovery method, including:

the NRF receives a first discovery request, wherein the first discovery request comprises level information corresponding to a target NF; the NRF sends a second discovery request to the central database according to the level information in the request; the central database determines the information of the target NF and sends a first discovery response to the NRF, wherein the first discovery response comprises the information of the target NF, and the information of the NF comprises the identity identification information of the NF; the NRF, upon receiving the first discovery response, transmits a second discovery response including information of the target NF.

In the method, the NRF requests the central database to acquire the information of the target NF after receiving the discovery request, so that the NRF is not required to be deployed in multiple layers, namely, only the information of the NF with the same level as the corresponding level of the NRF is configured in each NRF, and when a requester initiating the NF discovery process sends the NF discovery request, the requester does not need to perform a complicated NRF selection process first and then sends the NF discovery request to the selected NRF, thereby simplifying the process of acquiring the target NF information by the requester and also simplifying the configuration process of the NRF.

Optionally, in a non-roaming scenario, the first discovery request received by the NRF is sent by a requester (which may also be referred to as an NF consumer) initiating the NF discovery process, and accordingly, the NRF sends a second discovery response to the requester; in a roaming scenario, a first discovery request received by an NRF may be sent for another NRF, and accordingly, a second discovery response is sent to the NRF sending the first discovery request.

In a possible implementation manner, the second discovery request sent by the NRF to the central database further includes information of the NRF; the first discovery response sent by the central database to the NRF further includes information of NF related to the information of NRF.

Optionally, the NRF information may be location information of the NRF, and the central database pushes, for the NRF, information of other NFs located near the NRF according to the location information of the NRF. For example, the NF discovery request is used to request to acquire an AMF that provides an access service for the terminal, the central database may send, to the NRF, information of other AMFs near the NRF in addition to information of the AMF that can currently provide the service for the terminal, where the AMFs may be able to provide the service for the terminal after the terminal moves, and when the terminal moves and requests the AMF to provide the service for the terminal again, the NRF has already acquired the information of the AMF that can provide the service for the terminal, it is not necessary to send the NF discovery request to the central database again, so that the response speed is increased, and the load of the central database is reduced.

Further, the NRF may store the information of the NF included in the first discovery response, so that when the NF discovery request is received again subsequently, if the NRF has stored the information of the target NF, the NRF may directly send the information of the target NF to the requester, so as to improve the response speed and reduce the load of the central database.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the NRF sends a request for acquiring NF information to a central database, wherein the request for acquiring NF information is used for requesting to acquire NF information related to the NRF; and after receiving the request, the central database sends the NF information related to the NRF information to the NRF, and the NRF stores the NF information sent by the central database.

In the method, the NRF can also actively acquire the information of the NF related to the NRF from the central database, so that when the NF discovery request is received, whether the information of the target NF is stored can be determined according to the information of the NF stored in the NRF, and if the information of the target NF is not stored, the NF discovery request is sent to the central database, so that the response speed is improved, and the load of the central database is reduced. So as to improve the response speed and reduce the load of the central database.

In a possible implementation manner, when the NRF sends the second discovery request to the central database according to the level information in the first discovery request, the method specifically includes: the NRF judges whether the information of the target NF is stored or not according to the level information in the first discovery request and the information of the NF stored in the NRF, and if the NRF judges that the information of the target NF is not stored, the NRF sends a second discovery request to the central database.

In the method, the NRF can also store partial NF information, if the NRF stores the target NF information, the NRF can directly send the stored target NF information to a requester, otherwise, a second discovery request is sent to the central database to acquire the target NF information, so that the response speed of the NRF is increased and the load of the central database is reduced under the condition that the NF requester does not need to perform a more complicated NRF selection process.

In a possible implementation manner, the NRF may also delete part or all of the stored NF information according to a preset policy. For example, when the available storage space of the NRF is insufficient, the NRF may delete information of NFs stored earlier in time order, or may delete information of NFs having a smaller access amount according to the number of accesses of each piece of stored NF information.

In one possible implementation manner, when the NRF sends the second discovery request to the central database according to the level information in the first discovery request, the NRF may implement the following two manners:

in a first mode, the NRF sends a second discovery request to a central database, wherein the second discovery request comprises the level information; and the central database determines the target NF according to the level information. In this way, the NRF may send the second discovery request to any central database, or may select a central database according to a proximity principle or other selection policy to send the second discovery request, where each central database is configured with information of each level of NF.

The NRF selects a central database according to the level information, and the selected central database stores NF information of a level corresponding to the level information; the NRF sends a second discovery request to the selected central database. In this manner, the central databases may be deployed hierarchically, that is, each central database is configured with only information of a specific level of NF, for example, if the level information in the first discovery request indicates a PLMN level, the NRF sends a second discovery request to the central database storing PLMN level NF information, so that the central database selects a target NF at the PLMN level.

In a possible implementation manner, after receiving the first discovery request, the NRF may further determine whether a requester initiating the NF discovery process is allowed to obtain NF information of a level corresponding to the level information, and if the requester is allowed, determine that the first discovery request is authorized, and continuously determine whether the NRF stores information of a target NF, or directly send a second discovery request to the central database.

In the above method, different access rights may be set for different requesters. For example, for a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), requests for acquiring NF information at a shared slice level are allowed; for AMF, allowing a request to acquire NF information of PLMN level, shared slice level and special slice level; for SMF, allowing a request to acquire NF information of PLMN level and special slice level; for an authentication server function (AUSF), requests for NF information at the PLMN level are allowed.

In a possible implementation manner, the type of the target NF is further included in the first discovery request. The NRF determines that the requester is allowed to acquire NF information of a level corresponding to the level information, and comprises the following steps: and the NRF determines that the requester is allowed to acquire the NF information of the level corresponding to the level information according to the level information and the type of the target NF.

In one possible implementation manner, the NF requester may be preconfigured with information of NRFs, for example, information of NRFs closest to the NF requester, and the NF requester sends the NF discovery request to the preconfigured NRFs between the NF discovery requests when the NF discovery request needs to be sent.

In one possible implementation, the identification information of the NF includes one or a combination of the following: IP address, Full Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).

In one possible implementation, the level of NF may include at least one of a PLMN level, a shared slice level, or a special slice level.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a NF discovery method, including:

the method comprises the steps that NRF receives a discovery request, wherein the discovery request comprises the level information of target NF, and the NRF is configured with the information of NF corresponding to each level; the NRF determines a target NF according to the level information and the information of the NF stored by the NRF; the NRF sends a discovery response, wherein the discovery response comprises the information of the target NF.

In the method, because the NRF is configured with the information of the NF corresponding to each level, the requester who initiates the NF discovery process does not need to be configured with information of multiple NRFs in advance, and does not need to perform the NRF selection process any more, thereby simplifying the process of acquiring the target NF information by the requester and simplifying the configuration process of the NRF.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a NF discovery method, including:

the NRF receives a first discovery request, wherein the first discovery request comprises the level information of the target NF; the NRF judges whether the information of the target NF is stored or not according to the level information and the information of the NF stored in the NRF; if the NRF does not store the information of the target NF, the NRF sends a second discovery request to a central database; if the NRF is judged to store the information of the target NF, the NRF sends a discovery response to the requester or other NRFs, and the discovery response comprises the information of the target NF.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an NF discovery apparatus, including: a processor, and a memory and transceiver connected to the processor; the processor is used for reading a computer program stored in the memory in advance and executing:

receiving, by the transceiver, a first discovery request including level information of a target NF; sending a second discovery request to a central database through the transceiver according to the level information; receiving a first discovery response sent by the central database through the transceiver, wherein the first discovery response comprises information of a target NF, the information of the NF comprises identity identification information of the NF, and the level of the target NF is consistent with the level corresponding to the level information; transmitting, by the transceiver, a second discovery response including information of the target NF.

In one possible implementation, the second discovery request includes information of the NRF; the first discovery response further includes information of NF related to the information of NRF.

In one possible implementation, the processor is further configured to: storing information of NF included in the first discovery response in the memory.

In one possible implementation, the processor is further configured to: sending an NF information acquisition request to a central database through the transceiver, wherein the NF information acquisition request is used for requesting to acquire NF information related to the information of the device; and receiving NF information related to the device information sent by a central database through the transceiver, and storing the NF information.

In a possible implementation manner, when the processor sends, through the transceiver, a second discovery request to the central database according to the level information, the processor is specifically configured to: judging whether the information of the target NF is stored in the memory or not according to the level information and the information of the NF stored in the NRF; and when the information of the target NF is not stored in the memory, sending a second discovery request to a central database through the transceiver.

In one possible implementation, the processor is further configured to: and deleting part or all of the NF information stored in the memory according to a preset strategy.

In a possible implementation manner, the central database is a database selected by the NRF according to the level information selection and storing information of NFs of the level corresponding to the level information.

In one possible implementation, the processor, after receiving the first discovery request through the transceiver, is further configured to: and determining that the requester is allowed to acquire NF information of a level corresponding to the level information.

In a possible implementation manner, the first discovery request further includes a type of the target NF; when determining that the requester is allowed to obtain the NF information of the level corresponding to the level information, the processor is specifically configured to: and determining that the requester is allowed to acquire the NF information of the level corresponding to the level information according to the level information and the type of the target NF.

In one possible implementation, the identification information of the NF includes one or a combination of the following: IP address, FQDN.

In one possible implementation, the NF levels include at least one of: a PLMN level; sharing slice levels; a special slice level.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a central database, including: a processor, and a memory and transceiver connected to the processor; the processor is used for reading a computer program stored in the memory in advance and executing: receiving, by the transceiver, a discovery request sent by a network function storage function, NRF; determining information of a target NF according to the discovery request, wherein the information of the NF comprises identity identification information of the NF; transmitting, by the transceiver, a discovery response to the NRF, the discovery response including information of the target NF.

In one possible implementation, the discovery request includes level information of the target NF; and the grade of the target NF is consistent with the grade corresponding to the grade information.

In a possible implementation manner, the discovery request further includes: information of the NRF; the processor is further configured to: determining information of NF related to the information of NRF; the discovery response further comprises: information of the determined NF.

In one possible implementation, the processor is further configured to: receiving, by the transceiver, an NF acquisition information request sent by the NRF, where the NF acquisition information request is used to request acquisition of information of NFs related to the NRF; transmitting information of the NF to the NRF through the transceiver.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an NF discovery apparatus, including: a processor, and a memory and transceiver connected to the processor; the processor is used for reading a computer program stored in the memory in advance and executing:

receiving a discovery request through the transceiver, wherein the discovery request comprises level information of a target NF, the NRF stores information of NF corresponding to each level, and the information of the NF comprises an identity of the NF; determining a target NF according to the level information and the NF information stored by the NRF; transmitting, by the transceiver, a discovery response including information of the target NF.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an NF discovery apparatus, including: a processor, and a memory and transceiver connected to the processor; the processor is used for reading a computer program stored in the memory in advance and executing:

receiving a first discovery request through the transceiver, the first discovery request including level information of a target NF; judging whether the information of the target NF is stored in the memory or not according to the level information and the information of the NF stored in the NRF; if the information of the target NF is not stored, a second discovery request is sent to a central database through the transceiver; and if the NRF is judged to store the information of the target NF, sending a discovery response to the requester or other NRFs through the transceiver, wherein the discovery response comprises the information of the target NF.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an NF discovery system, including the central database according to the fifth aspect, and the NF discovery apparatus according to the fourth aspect or the NF discovery apparatus according to the seventh aspect.

In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of the first, second and third aspects.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a service-based architecture in 5G according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an NF discovery process in a non-roaming scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an NF discovery process in a roaming scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of an NF discovery method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart of NF discovery provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a second flowchart of NF discovery according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a third flowchart illustrating NF discovery according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a fourth flowchart of NF discovery provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a fifth flowchart of NF discovery provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of another NF discovery method provided in the embodiments of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of an NF discovery apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a second schematic structural diagram of an NF discovery apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a central database according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a second schematic diagram of a central database according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 15 is a third schematic structural diagram of an NF discovery apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 16 is a fourth schematic structural diagram of an NF discovery apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more clear, the present application will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

NRF was introduced in the 5G service based system architecture to support NF discovery functions. The NF discovery process may be as shown in fig. 2 and 3.

Fig. 2 shows a non-roaming scenario, which specifically includes the following steps:

step 201: a NF consumer (consumer), i.e., a NF that requests to obtain a NF discovery service, may also be referred to as a NF requester (requester), sends a NF discovery request to the NRF.

However, since NRFs are deployed in multiple layers, that is, each NRF is configured with only information of NFs whose levels are consistent with the levels corresponding to the NRFs, before sending an NF discovery request, an NF requester needs to determine the level of a target NF according to a service required by the NF requester, select one NRF from the NRFs corresponding to the level, and send the NF discovery request to the selected NRF.

Step 202, the NRF determines whether the NF requester is allowed to obtain the target NF information, and if the NF requester is allowed, it determines that the NF discovery request is authorized, and selects the target NF according to the information of the NF configured by the NRF.

If the NRF determines that the NF requester is not allowed to obtain information of the target NF, the NRF will not select the target NF for it.

Step 203, the NRF sends a NF discovery response to the NF requester, where the NF discovery response includes information of the selected target NF.

The NF requester may communicate with the NF corresponding to the information according to the information of the NF in the NF discovery response to obtain the required service.

Fig. 3 shows a roaming scenario, which specifically includes the following steps:

step 301: the NF requester sends a NF discovery request to the NRF1 in the PLMN it is serving.

Similar to the non-roaming scenario, since each NRF is configured with only NF information of a level consistent with the level to which the NRF corresponds, before sending an NF discovery request, the NF requester needs to select an NRF that provides a service for the NF discovery process according to the configured information of each level of NRF, and send the NF discovery request to the selected NRF.

Step 302, NRF1 in the PLMN serving it determines whether the NF requester is allowed to obtain the information of the target NF, and if so, i.e. the NF request is authorized, sends a NF discovery request to NRF2 in the remote PLMN.

Step 303, the NRF2 in the remote PLMN determines the target NF and sends a NF discovery response to the NRF1 in the PLMN that is serving the NF requestor, where the NF discovery response includes information of the target NF.

The NRF1 in the PLMN that is serving the NF requestor forwards the discovery response to the NF requestor, step 304. The NF requester may communicate with the NF corresponding to the information according to the information of the target NF in the NF discovery response to obtain the required service.

In the non-roaming scenario and the roaming scenario, because each NRF is configured with only information of an NF that is consistent with the level of the NRF, before sending an NF discovery request, an NF requester needs to determine the level of the NF providing services for the NF according to a service required by the NF requester, select one NRF from the NRFs corresponding to the level, and send the NF discovery request to the selected NRF, which is very cumbersome.

In order to avoid the tedious process of selecting an NRF by an NF requester, the embodiments of the present application provide a NF discovery method to solve the problem that when an NF sends a NF discovery request, the NF discovery request needs to be sent to the selected NRF through a cumbersome NRF selection process.

In the description of the present application, the terms "first," "second," and the like, are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance, nor order. For example, the first discovery request is used to represent a discovery request received by the NRF, and the second discovery request is used to represent a discovery request received by the central database; the first discovery response is applied to the discovery response indicating that the NRF receives, and the second discovery response and the third discovery response indicate discovery responses that the NRF transmits in different scenes.

Referring to fig. 4, a schematic flow chart of an NF discovery method provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown, where the method may include the following steps:

step 401, the NRF receives a first discovery request.

Figure 4 shows a non-roaming scenario where the first discovery request received by the NRF is sent by a requestor (which may also be referred to as an NF consumer) initiating the NF discovery process.

In addition, the NF discovery method provided in the embodiment of the present application may also be applied in a roaming scenario, where the first discovery request received by the NRF may be sent by an NRF in another PLMN.

The first discovery request includes level information corresponding to the target NF to request for acquiring information of the NF corresponding to the level information.

The first discovery request may also include a type of requestor (e.g., NSSF, AMF, SMF, etc.) and a type of target NF (e.g., UDM, AMF, SMF, etc.). Further, the first discovery request may further include slice information of the target NF, a PLMN ID of a PLMN to which the target NF belongs, and the like.

Specifically, the first discovery request may be sent to the NRF through an independent message, or may be sent to the NRF as a piece of service information carried in the same message with other service information. Similarly, other requests or responses in the embodiment of the present application may also be sent through an independent message, or sent as service information carried in the same message with other service information.

In one possible implementation, the level may be a PLMN level, a shared slice level, a special slice level, or the like. It should be understood that the present application does not limit the level of the network element, and if the NF for multi-layer deployment in a 5G or other communication system also includes other levels, the level information may also be other level information accordingly.

For example, if the NF requester requests to acquire information of the UDM at the PLMN level, correspondingly, the first discovery request may include indication information for indicating that the target NF type is the UDM and indication information for indicating that the target NF is at the PLMN level; if the NF requester requests to acquire the information of the AMF at the shared slice level, correspondingly, the first discovery request may include indication information for indicating that the target NF type is the AMF and indication information for indicating that the target NF is the shared slice level; if the NF requester requests to obtain information of SMFs of a special slice level, accordingly, the first discovery request may include indication information for indicating that the target NF type is an SMF and indication information for indicating that the target NF is a special slice level.

In the embodiment of the application, the NF requester may not need to configure information of NRFs of each level and perform a complex NRF selection process each time the first discovery request is sent, and the NF requester may send the first discovery request to any NRF, or may send the first discovery request to an NRF closest to the NF requester according to a proximity principle.

In a possible implementation manner, the NF requester may be preconfigured with information of at least one NRF, and when the NF requester needs to send the first discovery request, the NF requester directly sends the first discovery request to the NRF corresponding to the preconfigured information. In a specific embodiment, the NF requester may be pre-configured with information of an NRF closest to the NF requester, for example, an IP address or FQDN of the nearest NRF, and the NF requester directly sends the discovery request to the nearest NRF when the discovery request needs to be sent according to the information.

Step 402, the NRF sends a second discovery request to the central database according to the level information in the first discovery request.

Further, after the NRF receives the first discovery request, optionally, the NRF may first determine whether the NF requester is allowed to obtain the information of the target NF of the level corresponding to the level information, and if it is determined that the NF requester is allowed, then send the second discovery request to the central database, and if it is determined that the NF requester is not allowed, the process is ended.

In the above method, different access rights may be set for different requesters. For example, for NSSF, requests for NF information at the shared slice level are allowed; for AMF, allowing a request to acquire NF information of PLMN level, shared slice level and special slice level; for SMF, allowing a request to acquire NF information of PLMN level and special slice level; for AUSF, the request is allowed to obtain NF information at PLMN level.

It should be understood that the above setting of the permissions for different requesters is only an example, and is not a limitation to the embodiments of the present application, and different permissions may be set according to a specific application scenario.

In a possible implementation manner, the first discovery request further includes a type of the target NF, and the NRF may determine whether the requester is allowed to obtain the target NF information of the level corresponding to the level information according to the level information and the type of the target NF.

Optionally, the type of the requester and the type of the target NF may be included in the second discovery request. Further, the second discovery request may further include slice information of the target NF, a PLMN ID of a PLMN to which the target NF belongs, and the like.

In one possible implementation, the NRF may implement sending the second discovery request to the central database according to the level information in the first discovery request by one of the following two ways:

in the first mode, the NRF sends a second discovery request to the central database, where the second discovery request includes the level information in the first discovery request, so that the central database determines the target NF according to the level information.

In the above manner, the central database may be a logical central database, and the logical central database may be composed of one physical central database or a plurality of physical central databases. When the NRF is configured to receive the first discovery request sent by the NRF, the physical center database may be configured with information of all NFs, or only configured with information of a part of NFs.

The logical central database may be provided with an NRF access entry, that is, all the second discovery requests sent by the NRF are sent to the logical central database through the access entry; or, the NRF may directly send the second discovery request to a certain physical center database through an access entry of each physical center database, and accordingly, the NRF may send the second discovery request to any physical center database, may send the second discovery request to a physical center database closest to the NRF according to a proximity principle, may send the second discovery request to a physical center database with the smallest load, or may send the second discovery request to a corresponding physical center database according to another selection policy.

The NRF selects a central database according to the level information, and the selected central database stores NF information of a level corresponding to the level information; the NRF sends a second discovery request to the selected central database.

In the foregoing manner, the central databases are deployed hierarchically, that is, each central database is configured with only information of NFs at a specific level, for example, the central database 1 is configured with only information of NFs at a PLMN level, the central database 2 is configured with only information of NFs at a shared slice level, and the central database 3 is configured with only information of NFs at a special slice level.

Correspondingly, when the NRF sends the second discovery request, the NRF sends the second discovery request to a central database which stores NF information with the same level as the level corresponding to the level information according to the level information in the first discovery request. For example, if the NF requester requests to acquire information of the UDM at the PLMN level, that is, the first discovery request includes information at the PLMN level, the NRF sends the second discovery request to the central database storing the information of the NF at the PLMN level, where the second discovery request may include indication information for indicating that the target NF type is the UDM; if the NF requester requests to acquire the AMF information at the shared slice level, namely the first discovery request comprises the shared slice level information, the NRF sends a second discovery request to a central database storing the shared slice level NF information, wherein the second discovery request can comprise indication information used for indicating that the target NF type is AMF; if the NF requester requests to acquire information of an SMF of a special slice level, that is, the first discovery request includes information of a special slice level, the NRF sends a second discovery request to the central database storing information of an NF of a special slice level, where the second discovery request may include indication information for indicating that the target NF type is an SMF.

Step 403, after receiving the second discovery request, the central database determines the target NF, and sends a first discovery response to the NRF, where the first discovery response includes information of the target NF. Specifically, the information of the NF may include identification information of the NF

As described above, if the central database is not deployed in multiple levels, the second discovery request includes the level information of the target NF, and the central database determines the target NF according to the level information included in the second discovery request and the indication information for indicating the type of the target NF, where the level of the target NF is consistent with the level corresponding to the level information in the second discovery request. For example, if the second discovery request includes indication information for indicating that the target NF type is UDM and information of PLMN level, the central database determines a corresponding target UDM, and carries the determined information of UDM in the first discovery response to send to the NRF. For another example, if the second discovery request includes indication information indicating that the target NF type is the AMF and information of the shared slice level, the central database selects the AMF of the shared slice level that can provide a service for the NF requester, and carries the information of the selected AMF in the first discovery response to send to the NRF.

If the central database is deployed in multiple stages, only the information of the NF corresponding to the stage where the central database is located is configured in one central database, so that the central database can determine the target NF according to the indicating information for indicating the type of the target NF included in the second discovery request without considering the stage information when receiving the second discovery request. For example, if the central database a is a central database storing PLMN-level NF information, after receiving the second discovery request, the central database a determines a corresponding target UDM according to the indication information included in the request and used for indicating that the target NF type is UDM. For another example, if the central database B is a central database storing information of a special slice level NF, after receiving the second discovery request, the central database B determines a corresponding target SMF according to indication information included in the request and used for indicating that the target NF type is an SMF.

Optionally, the identification information of the target NF may include at least one of an IP address of the target NF and an FQDN of the target NF; the above is merely an example, and the identification information may be other information that can be used to identify the NF.

Step 404, after receiving the first discovery response, the NRF sends a second discovery response. And the second discovery response comprises the information of the target NF.

As shown in fig. 4, in a non-roaming scenario, a first discovery request received by the NRF is sent by a NF requester initiating a NF discovery process, and accordingly, the NRF sends a second discovery response to the NF requester.

In a roaming scenario, a first discovery request received by the NRF is sent by an NRF in another PLMN, and accordingly, the NRF sends a second discovery response to the NRF in the another PLMN.

Optionally, after receiving the first discovery response, the NRF may further store the information of the target NF included in the first discovery response, so that the NRF receives the discovery request again, and the NF corresponding to the stored NF information is the target NF of the discovery request, and the NRF may send the information of the target NF to the NF requester or other NRFs without sending the discovery request to the central database.

In a possible implementation manner, in step 402, when the NRF sends the second discovery request to the central database, the NRF may also carry information of the NRF itself in the second discovery request. Accordingly, in step 403, when the central database sends the first discovery response to the NRF, the first discovery response may carry information of NF related to the NRF information. Optionally, the NRF information may be location information of the NRF, and the central database pushes, for the NRF, information of other NFs located near the NRF according to the location information of the NRF.

In a possible implementation manner, the NRF may also actively send a request for acquiring NF information to the central database, where the request for acquiring NF information is used to request to acquire NF information related to the NRF information; the central database, upon receiving the request, transmits information of NF related to the information of NRF to NRF.

Further, the NRF may store information of the NF related to the NRF information, so that when the NF discovery request is received later, it may determine whether the NF information capable of providing the service is stored according to the information of the NF stored in the NRF, and if the NF discovery request is not stored, send the NF discovery request to the central database, so as to improve the response speed and reduce the load of the central database.

In the method, the central database may push some NF information related to the NRF information for the NRF according to the NRF information, for example, the NF discovery request is used to request to acquire an AMF that provides an access service for the terminal, the central database may send information of other AMFs near the NRF to the NRF in addition to sending information of the AMF that can currently provide the service for the terminal to the NRF, the AMFs are AMFs that may provide the service for the terminal after the terminal moves, and when the terminal moves and requests the AMF to provide the service for the terminal again, since the NRF has already acquired information of the AMF that can provide the service for the terminal, it is not necessary to send the NF discovery request to the central database again, thereby improving the response speed and reducing the load of the central database.

In a possible implementation manner, before the NRF sends the second discovery request to the central database, it may also determine whether the NRF stores information of the target NF. And if the NRF judges that the information of the target NF is not stored according to the level information in the first discovery request and the information of the NF stored in the NRF, the NRF sends a second discovery request to the central database.

Further, if the NRF determines that the information of the target NF is stored according to the level information in the first discovery request and the information of the NF already stored in the NRF, the NRF may send a third discovery response to the NF requester or another NRF without sending the second discovery request to the central database, and the third discovery response includes the information of the target NF.

In the method, the NRF can also store partial NF information, if the NRF stores the target NF information, the NRF can directly send the stored target NF information to a NF requester or other NRFs, otherwise, a second discovery request is sent to the central database to acquire the target NF information capable of providing service for the NF requester, so that the response speed of the NRF is improved and the load of the central database is reduced under the condition that the NF requester does not need to perform a more complicated NRF selection process.

In the embodiment of the present application, a Unified Data Repository (UDR) in an existing system architecture may be used as the central database in the embodiment of the present application. Specifically, information of NF is configured for the UDR in advance, and the UDR executes the steps executed by the central database in the above embodiment of the present application; or, other network elements capable of implementing the function of the central database in the existing system architecture can be utilized to save cost; of course, a new database may also be created, and NF information may be configured for the new database in advance, so as to implement the function of the central database in the above embodiment.

In order to more clearly understand the NF discovery method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the following is further illustrated by examples of fig. 5 to 9.

Referring to fig. 5, a schematic diagram of a process for acquiring AMF information at a shared slice level for an NSSF request in a non-roaming scenario may include the following steps:

step 501, the NSSF sends a NF discovery request to the NRF, where the NF discovery request may include shared slice level information and indication information for indicating that the target NF type is an AMF.

Step 502, the NRF determines whether the NSSF is allowed to acquire the AMF information at the shared slice level, and if the NSSF is allowed, it determines that the NF discovery request is authorized, and continues to perform step 503; otherwise, the flow ends.

Step 503, the NRF searches the NF information stored in itself, and determines that the AMF information at the shared slice level is not stored.

Step 504, the NRF sends a NF discovery request to the central database, where the discovery request may include shared slice level information and indication information for indicating that the target NF type is AMF, and further, the discovery request may also include location information of the NRF.

Step 505, the central database sends a NF discovery response to the NRF, where the NF discovery response includes information of the target AMF, and further, the NF discovery response may also include information of other AMFs near the NRF.

Step 506, the NRF stores the information of the target AMF and the information of the other AMF, and sends an NF discovery response to the NSSF, where the NF discovery response includes the information of the target AMF.

Through the above process, the NSSF acquires information of an AMF providing an access service for the terminal, however, after a period of time elapses, the AMF cannot provide a service for the terminal any more due to movement of the terminal, and therefore, the AMF may need to acquire information of a new AMF capable of providing a service for the terminal, and a NF discovery process at this time may be as shown in fig. 6:

step 601, the AMF1 sends a NF discovery request to the NRF, where the NF discovery request may include shared slice level information and indication information indicating that the target NF type is an AMF.

Step 602, the NRF determines whether the AMF1 is allowed to obtain the information of the AMF at the shared slice level, and if the AMF1 is allowed, it determines that the NF discovery request is authorized, and continues to perform step 603; otherwise, the flow ends.

In step 603, since the NRF stores information of other AMFs and the AMFs include an AMF2 capable of providing an access service to the moved terminal, when the NRF searches for NF information stored in the NRF itself, it is determined that information of an AMF2 at a shared slice level capable of providing a service to the moved terminal is stored.

Step 604, the NRF sends a NF discovery response to the AMF1, where the NF discovery response includes information of the AMF 2.

Referring to fig. 7, a schematic diagram of a process for acquiring PLMN-level UDM information for an AMF request in a non-roaming scenario may include the following steps:

step 701, the AMF sends an NF discovery request to the NRF, where the NF discovery request may include PLMN level information and indication information for indicating that the target NF type is UDM.

Step 702, the NRF determines whether the AMF is allowed to acquire the information of the UDM at the PLMN level, and if the AMF is allowed, authorizes the NF discovery request, and continues to execute step 703; otherwise, the flow ends.

Step 703, the NRF searches the NF information stored in itself, and determines that the information of the target UDM is not stored.

Step 704, the NRF sends a NF discovery request to the central database, where the discovery request may include PLMN level information and indication information for indicating that the target NF type is UDM.

Step 705, the central database sends a NF discovery response to the NRF, where the NF discovery response includes information of the target UDM.

Step 706, the NSSF stores the information of the UDM and sends an NF discovery response to the AMF, where the NF discovery response includes the information of the target UDM.

Through the above procedure, the AMF obtains the information of the UDM, however, when the terminal selects the SMF after accessing the network, the selected SMF may need to obtain the subscription information from the UDM, and therefore, the SMF also needs to obtain the information of the UDM, and the NF discovery process at this time may be as shown in fig. 8:

step 801, the SMF sends an NF discovery request to the NRF, where the NF discovery request may include PLMN level information and indication information for indicating that the target NF type is UDM.

Step 802, the NRF determines whether the SMF is allowed to acquire the information of the UDM at the PLMN level, and if the SMF is allowed, determines that the NF discovery request is authorized, continues to perform step 803; otherwise, the flow ends.

In step 803, since the NRF stores the information of the UDM and the stored UDM can provide the SMF with the subscription information, when the NRF searches the NF information stored in the NRF, it is determined that the information of the target UDM is stored.

Step 804, the NRF sends a NF discovery response to the SMF, where the NF discovery response includes the information of the UDM.

Referring to fig. 9, since the terminal is in a roaming scenario, the SMF selected by the terminal may need to acquire subscription information from the UDM, and therefore, the SMF also needs to acquire information of the UDM with the subscription data of the terminal, as shown in the figure, the NF discovery process may include the following steps:

step 901, the SMF instance sends a NF discovery request to NRF2, where the NF discovery request may include level information of the PLMN requested to be accessed and indication information for indicating that the target NF type is UDM. Among them, NRF2 is an NRF in PLMN2 that is serving the terminal.

Step 902, NRF2 sends a NF discovery request to NRF1, where the NF discovery request may include level information of the PLMN requested to be accessed and indication information indicating that the target NF type is UDM. The NRF1 is an NRF in the remote PLMN1, that is, an NRF in a PLMN where the UDM having the terminal subscription information is located.

Step 903, the NRF1 sends an NF discovery request to the central database 1, where the NF discovery request may include level information of the PLMN requested to be accessed and indication information for indicating that the target NF type is UDM. The central database 1 is a central database in the remote PLMN 1.

Step 904, the central database 1 sends a NF discovery response to the NRF1, where the NF discovery response includes information of the UDM with the terminal subscription information.

Step 905, the NRF1 sends a NF discovery response to the NRF2, where the NF discovery response includes information of the UDM with the terminal subscription information.

Step 906, the NRF2 sends a NF discovery response to the SMF, where the NF discovery response includes information of the UDM with the terminal subscription information.

In addition, in order to avoid the tedious process of selecting the NRF by the NF requester, the embodiment of the present application further provides a NF discovery method. Referring to fig. 10, a schematic diagram of an NF discovery process provided in an embodiment of the present application, as shown in the figure, the method may include the following steps:

step 1001, the NRF receives a discovery request, which includes level information of the target NF.

As mentioned above, the discovery request may be sent by the NF requester or may be sent by the NRF in another PLMN.

Step 1002, the NRF determines the target NF according to the level information.

The NRF stores information of NF at each level, and when determining the target NF, the NRF can search the stored NF information according to the level information included in the discovery request so as to search the information of the target NF.

Step 1003, the NRF sends a discovery response, where the discovery response includes information of the target NF.

If the discovery request received by the NRF is sent by the NF requester, the NRF sends a discovery response to the NF requester; and if the discovery request received by the NRF is sent by the NRF in the other PLMN level, sending a discovery response to the NRF in the other PLMN level.

Specifically, the information of the target NF may include identification information of the target NF, such as an IP address or FQDN.

In the above-described embodiment, the NRF may be one logical NRF, and the logical NRF may be constituted by one physical NRF or may be constituted by a plurality of physical NRFs. When the discovery request is received, if the physical NRF does not store the information of the target NF, the corresponding information of the target NF may be acquired from other physical NRFs.

The logical NRF may be provided with an access entry, through which discovery requests sent by NF requesters are all sent to the logical NRF; or, the NF requester may also directly send the discovery request to a certain physical NRF through an access entry of each physical NRF, and accordingly, the NF requester may send the discovery request to any NRF, or may send the discovery request to an NRF closest to the NF requester according to a proximity principle, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the present application provides an NF discovery apparatus, so as to implement the method flow executed by the NRF in the above method embodiment. Specifically, the NF discovery apparatus may be an NRF entity, or the apparatus may be integrated on a server to implement the above-described NRF function. Referring to fig. 11, the NF discovery apparatus may include: a receiving unit 1101 and a transmitting unit 1102.

A receiving unit 1101, configured to receive a first discovery request, where the first discovery request includes level information of a target NF;

a sending unit 1102, configured to send a second discovery request to a central database according to the level information;

the receiving unit 1101 is further configured to receive a first discovery response sent by the central database, where the first discovery response includes information of a target NF, the information of the NF includes identity information of the NF, and a level of the target NF is consistent with a level corresponding to the level information;

the sending unit 1102 is further configured to send a second discovery response, where the second discovery response includes information of the target NF.

In a possible implementation manner, the NF discovery apparatus may further include a storage unit 1103 configured to store information of NFs included in the first discovery response.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit 1102 is further configured to send an NF information obtaining request to a central database, where the NF information obtaining request is used to request to obtain NF information related to the NRF information;

the receiving unit 1101 is further configured to receive information of NFs related to the NRF information sent by a central database, and the storage unit 1103 stores the information of NFs related to the NRF information.

In a possible implementation manner, when sending the second discovery request to the central database according to the level information, the sending unit 1102 is specifically configured to: judging whether the NF discovery device stores the information of the target NF or not according to the level information and the information of the NF stored in the NRF; and when judging that the information of the target NF is not stored, sending a second discovery request to the central database.

In a possible implementation manner, the NF discovery apparatus may further include a deleting unit 1104 configured to delete part or all of the stored information of the NF according to a preset policy.

In a possible implementation manner, the NF discovery apparatus may further include a determining unit 1105 configured to determine that the requester is allowed to obtain the NF information of the level corresponding to the level information after the receiving unit 1101 receives the first discovery request.

In a possible implementation manner, the first discovery request further includes a type of the target NF; the determining unit 1105 is specifically configured to: and determining that the requester is allowed to acquire the NF information of the level corresponding to the level information according to the level information and the type of the target NF.

In one possible implementation, the identity information of the NF includes one or a combination of: IP address, FQDN.

In one possible implementation, the class of NF includes at least one of: a PLMN level; sharing slice levels; a special slice level.

Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the present application provides an NF discovery apparatus, so as to implement the method flow executed by the NRF in the above method embodiment. Specifically, the NF discovery apparatus may be an NRF entity, or the apparatus may be integrated on a server to implement the above-described NRF function. Referring to fig. 12, the NF discovery apparatus may include: a processor 1201, and a memory 1202 and a transceiver 1203 connected to the processor 1201; the processor 1201 is configured to read a computer program pre-stored in the memory 1202 to execute:

receiving a first discovery request through the transceiver 1203, where the first discovery request includes level information of a target NF; sending a second discovery request to a central database through the transceiver 1203 according to the level information; receiving, by the transceiver 1203, a first discovery response sent by the central database, where the first discovery response includes information of a target NF, the information of the NF includes identity information of the NF, and a level of the target NF is consistent with a level corresponding to the level information;

sending, by the transceiver 1203, a second discovery response including information of the target NF.

In one possible implementation, the processor 1201 is further configured to: storing information of NF included in the first discovery response in the memory 1202.

In one possible implementation, the processor 1201 is further configured to: sending an NF information acquisition request to a central database through the transceiver 1203, where the NF information acquisition request is used to request to acquire NF information related to information of the device; the information of NF related to the information of the device, which is transmitted from the central database, is received through the transceiver 1203, and the information of NF is stored.

In a possible implementation manner, when the processor 1201 sends the second discovery request to the central database through the transceiver 1203 according to the level information, the processor 1201 is specifically configured to: judging whether the storage 1202 stores information of a target NF or not according to the level information and the information of the NF stored in the NRF; when it is determined that the information of the target NF is not stored in the memory 1202, a second discovery request is sent to a central database through the transceiver 1203.

In one possible implementation, the processor 1201 is further configured to: and deleting part or all of the NF information stored in the memory 1202 according to a preset strategy.

In one possible implementation, after receiving the first discovery request through the transceiver 1203, the processor 1201 is further configured to: and determining that the requester is allowed to acquire NF information of a level corresponding to the level information.

In a possible implementation manner, the first discovery request further includes a type of the target NF; when determining that the requester is allowed to obtain the NF information of the level corresponding to the level information, the processor 1201 is specifically configured to: and determining that the requester is allowed to acquire the NF information of the level corresponding to the level information according to the level information and the type of the target NF.

Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the present application provides a central database, so as to implement the method flow executed by the central database in the above method embodiments. Specifically, the central database may be a UDR, or may be another database. Referring to fig. 13, the central database may include: a receiving unit 1301, a determining unit 1302 and a sending unit 1303.

A receiving unit 1301, configured to receive a discovery request sent by an NF discovery apparatus;

a determining unit 1302, configured to determine information of a target NF according to the discovery request, where the information of the NF includes identity information of the NF;

a sending unit 1303, configured to send a discovery response to the NF discovery apparatus, where the discovery response includes information of the target NF.

In a possible implementation manner, the discovery request further includes: information of the NRF; the determining unit 1302 is further configured to determine information of NF related to the information of NRF; the discovery response further comprises: information of the determined NF.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit 1301 is further configured to receive an NF information acquisition request sent by the NF discovery apparatus, where the NF information acquisition request is used to request to acquire information of an NF related to the NRF; the sending unit 1303 is further configured to send the information of the NF to the NRF.

Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the present application provides a central database, so as to implement the method flow executed by the central database in the above method embodiments. Specifically, the central database may be a UDR, or may be another database. Referring to fig. 14, the central database may include: a processor 1401, and a memory 1403 and a transceiver 1402 connected to the processor 1401;

the processor 1401 is configured to read a computer program pre-stored in the memory 1403 to execute:

receiving, by the transceiver 1402, a discovery request sent by a network function storage function NRF;

determining information of a target NF according to the discovery request, wherein the information of the NF comprises identity identification information of the NF;

transmitting a discovery response to the NRF through the transceiver 1402, the discovery response including information of the target NF.

In one possible implementation, the discovery request includes level information of the target NF;

and the grade of the target NF is consistent with the grade corresponding to the grade information.

In a possible implementation manner, the discovery request further includes: information of the NRF;

the processor 1401 is further configured to: determining information of NF related to the information of NRF;

the discovery response further comprises: information of the determined NF.

In one possible implementation, the processor 1401 is further configured to:

receiving, by the transceiver 1402, an NF information acquisition request sent by the NRF, where the NF information acquisition request is used to request to acquire information of NFs related to the NRF;

information of the NF is transmitted to the NRF through the transceiver 1402.

Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the present application further provides an NF discovery system, which includes the aforementioned central database, and at least one NF discovery apparatus as described above.

Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the present application provides an NF discovery apparatus, so as to implement the method flow executed by the NF discovery apparatus in the above method embodiment. Specifically, the NF discovery apparatus may be an NRF entity, or the apparatus may be integrated on a server to implement the above-described NRF function. Referring to fig. 15, the NF discovery apparatus may include: a reception unit 1501, a determination unit 1502, and a transmission unit 1503.

The receiving unit 1501 is configured to receive a discovery request, where the discovery request includes level information of a target NF, where information of NFs corresponding to each level is stored in the NRF, and the information of NFs includes an identity of the NF;

the determining unit 1502 is configured to determine a target NF according to the level information and the information of the NF stored in the NRF;

the sending unit 1503 is configured to send a discovery response, where the discovery response includes information of the target NF.

Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the present application provides an NF discovery apparatus, so as to implement the method flow executed by the NF discovery apparatus in the above method embodiment. Specifically, the NF discovery apparatus may be an NRF entity, or the apparatus may be integrated on a server to implement the above-described NRF function. Referring to fig. 16, the NF discovery apparatus may include: a processor 1601, and a memory 1602 and a transceiver 1603 connected to the processor 1601;

the processor 1601 is configured to read a computer program pre-stored in the memory 1602 to execute:

receiving, by the transceiver 1603, a discovery request including level information of a target NF, where information of NFs corresponding to each level is stored in the NRF, and the information of NFs includes an identity of the NF;

determining a target NF according to the level information and the NF information stored by the NRF;

sending a discovery response through the transceiver 1603, the discovery response including information of the target NF.

Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer instructions, and when the instructions are executed on a computer, the computer is caused to execute any one of the method embodiments described above.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations as well.

Claims

1. A method for discovering a Network Function (NF), comprising:

a network function storage function (NRF) receives a first discovery request, wherein the first discovery request comprises the level information of a target NF;

the NRF sends a second discovery request to a central database according to the level information;

the NRF receives a first discovery response sent by the central database, wherein the first discovery response comprises information of a target NF, the information of the NF comprises identity identification information of the NF, and the level of the target NF is consistent with the level corresponding to the level information;

the NRF sends a second discovery response, wherein the second discovery response comprises the information of the target NF;

wherein the NRF sending a second discovery request to a central database according to the level information comprises:

the NRF sends a second discovery request to the central database, wherein the second discovery request comprises the level information, so that the central database determines the target NF according to the level information; or

The NRF selects the central database according to the level information, and the selected central database stores NF information of a level corresponding to the level information; the NRF sends a second discovery request to the selected central database.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second discovery request includes information of the NRF;

the first discovery response further includes information of NF related to the information of NRF.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the NRF stores information of NF included in the first discovery response.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the NRF sends a request for acquiring NF information to a central database, wherein the request for acquiring NF information is used for requesting to acquire NF information related to the NRF information;

and the NRF receives NF information which is sent by a central database and is related to the NRF information, and stores the NF information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the NRF sending a second discovery request to a central database based on the level information, comprising:

the NRF judges whether the information of the target NF is stored or not according to the level information and the information of the NF stored in the NRF;

and the NRF sends a second discovery request to a central database when judging that the NRF does not store the information of the target NF.

6. The method of claim 2 or 4, further comprising:

and deleting the stored partial or all NF information by the NRF according to a preset strategy.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein after the NRF receives the first discovery request, further comprising:

the NRF determines that the requester is allowed to acquire NF information of a level corresponding to the level information.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising a type of target NF in the first discovery request;

the NRF determines that the requester is allowed to acquire NF information of a level corresponding to the level information, and comprises the following steps:

and the NRF determines that the requester is allowed to acquire the NF information of the level corresponding to the level information according to the level information and the type of the target NF.

9. The method of any of claims 1-5, 7-8, wherein the identity information of the NF comprises one or a combination of: IP address, full name domain name FQDN.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the class of NF comprises at least one of: a public land mobile network, PLMN, level; sharing slice levels; a special slice level.

11. A method for discovering a Network Function (NF), comprising:

a central database receives a discovery request sent by a network function storage function (NRF);

the central database determines the information of a target NF according to the discovery request, wherein the information of the NF comprises the identity identification information of the NF;

the central database sends a discovery response to the NRF, wherein the discovery response comprises the information of the target NF;

wherein, the discovery request comprises the level information of the target NF; and the grade of the target NF is consistent with the grade corresponding to the grade information.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the discovery request further comprises: information of the NRF;

the method further comprises the following steps:

the central database determining information of NF related to the information of NRF;

the discovery response further comprises: information of the determined NF.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

the central database receives an NF information acquisition request sent by the NRF, wherein the NF information acquisition request is used for requesting to acquire NF information related to the NRF;

and the central database sends the information of the NF to the NRF.

14. A network function, NF, discovery apparatus, characterized in that said NF discovery apparatus is configured to perform the method of any of claims 1-10.

15. A central database, characterized in that it is adapted to perform the method of any of claims 11-13.

16. A network function NF discovery system, comprising: NF discovers the apparatus and central database;

the NF discovery device is used for receiving a first discovery request, wherein the first discovery request comprises level information corresponding to a target NF, and sending a second discovery request to a central database according to the level information;

the central database is configured to determine information of a target NF according to the second discovery request, where the information of the NF includes identity information of the NF, and send a first discovery response to the NF discovery apparatus, where the first discovery response includes the information of the target NF;

the NF discovery device is also used for sending a second discovery response, and the second discovery response comprises the information of the target NF;

wherein, the NF discovery apparatus sends a second discovery request to a central database according to the level information, including:

the NF discovering device sends a second discovering request to the central database, wherein the second discovering request comprises the level information, so that the central database determines the target NF according to the level information; or

The NF discovering device selects the central database according to the level information, and the selected central database stores the information of NF with the level corresponding to the level information; and the NF discovery device sends a second discovery request to the selected central database.

17. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-13.