WO2020238411A1

WO2020238411A1 - Method and apparatus for network exposure function discovery and selection

Info

Publication number: WO2020238411A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/083161
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ping Chen; Cheng Wang; Miguel Angel Garcia Martin; Qiang Liu
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2019-05-27
Filing date: 2020-04-03
Publication date: 2020-12-03

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods and apparatuses for network exposure function discovery and selection. A method comprises receiving from an application server a service request including one or more parameters, wherein the one or more parameters include a service application program interface (API) name; and determining at least one second network exposure function entity from one or more second network exposure function entities.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR NETWORK EXPOSURE FUNCTION DISCOVERY AND SELECTION

TECHNICAL FIELD

The non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the technical field of communications, and specifically to methods and apparatuses for network exposure function discovery and selection.

BACKGROUND

This section introduces aspects that may facilitate a better understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.

Currently core network architecture for fifth generation (5G) system such as new radio (NR) has been proposed. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary 5G system architecture, which is a copy of Figure 4.2.3-1 of 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) TS 23.501 V16.0.2, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. As shown in FIG. 1, 5G system architecture may comprise a plurality of network functions (NFs) such as Authentication Server Function (AUSF) , Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) , Data Network (DN) (e.g. operator services, Internet access or 3rd party services) , Network Exposure Function (NEF) , Network Repository Function (NRF) , Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) , Policy Control Function (PCF) , Session Management Function (SMF) , Unified Data Management (UDM) , User Plane Function (UPF) , Application Function (AF) , User Equipment (UE) , (Radio) Access Network ( (R) AN) , etc.

5G core network (5GC) is designed to accommodate various services e.g. massive IoT, critical communications, and enhanced mobile broadband, respectively. To allow the 3rd party or user equipment (UE) to access information regarding services provided by the network (e.g. connectivity information, quality of service (QoS) , mobility, etc. ) and to dynamically customize the network capability for different diverse use cases within the limits set by the operator, 5GC provides network exposure capability to enable suitable access/exchange of network information to the 3rd party or UE.

The NEF supports such exposure of capabilities of network functions, making used of the information collecting via 3GPP network internal interfaces, and exposing towards AF via proper application program interfaces (APIs) . FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a non-roaming architecture for NEF in reference point representation, which is a copy of Figure 4.2.3-5 of 3GPP TS 23.501 V16.0.2. Currently, as specified in clause 5.2.6 of 3GPP TS 23.502 V16.0.2, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, SMF is a 5GC NF that consumes a NEF Service (Nnef_PFDManagement) , AF does not generally use the 5GC service discovery framework to discover the NEF, API entry point (i.e. NEF North-Bound Interface (NBI) ) may be locally configured by the internal/external AF.

Common API Framework (CAPIF) for 3GPP Northbound APIs is specified in 3GPP TS 23.222 16.3.0, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a distributed/hierarchical deployment of the CAPIF. As shown in FIG. 3, the NEF is mapped to the CAPIF framework and dubbed as an API Exposing Function (AEF) . Since FIG. 3 illustrates a distributed and hierarchical deployment of AEFs, it is implicitly illustrating the hierarchical deployment of NEFs. Since several instances of NEF can be deployed in a hierarchical arrangement, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the following considerations apply. The AEF can have several instances like AEF-1, AEF-2 and AEF-3 which can be assigned with different roles. The roles for each AEF are decided by the operator. The AEF-2 and AEF-3 provide a service APIs for services X and Y, respectively. The AEF-1 provides the service communication entry point to the service APIs for both service X APIs and service Y APIs. The AEF-1, for instance, may apply an additional topology hiding functionality for both services X and Y APIs. The AEF-1 also applies any access control or policy control to the interactions between the API invoker and service X APIs and between the API invoker and service Y APIs, in coordination with the CAPIF core function using CAPIF-3.

CAPIF can be deployed by splitting the functionality of the AEF among multiple API exposing functional entities, of which, one acts as the main entry point in the operator’s network. However, there is a single API publishing function and a single API management function in the API provider domain, although there could be multiple API exposing functional entities.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

There may be a number of requirements for the NEF which can not be supported by the existing NEF. For example, it shall be possible to deploy NEF in a hierarchical and/or distributed manner for network slice-specific services and/or edge capability exposure for external applications. NEF should support centralized or edge deployment in any combination based on business and/network slice policy. NEF shall support secure routing of context across NEF in network slices and root NEF. A general architecture principle is to hide the underlying 3GPP network topology from the external API invokers accessing the service APIs. NEF is able to isolate and separate services and traffic from different network slices (identified by single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) and/or network slice instance identifier (NSI ID) ) , as well as it must provide monitoring counters and key performance indicator (KPI) per network slice. A sort of hierarchical architecture for 5G NEF deployment is highly demanded, which also implies a proper NEF instance discovery mechanism is needed to support such architecture.

A problem addressed by some embodiments of the present disclosure resides in how the centralized network exposure function entity such as NEF, acting as a communication entry point for external application server such as AF, can find the subordinated network exposure function entity instance (s) located in dedicated network slice instance or edge, serving a specific UE (s) /network slice/edge site, when receiving an AF initiated request.

To overcome or mitigate at least one above mentioned problems or other problems or provide a useful solution, the embodiments of the present disclosure propose a network exposure function discovery and selection solution.

In a first aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method at a first network exposure function entity. The method comprises receiving from an application server a service request including one or more parameters, wherein the one or more parameters include a service application program interface (API) name; and determining at least one second network exposure function entity from one or more second network exposure function entities.

In an embodiment, the at least one second network exposure function entity may be determined based on at least one of the one or more parameters; a second network exposure function entity of a default network slice; and one or more key performance indicators of the one or more second network exposure function entities.

In an embodiment, the method further comprising sending the service request to the at least one second network exposure function entity.

In an embodiment, the method may further comprise receiving a service response from the at least one second network exposure function entity; and sending the service response to the application server.

In an embodiment, the service response includes a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) or Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the at least one second network exposure function entity.

In an embodiment, the method may further comprise receiving a notification message related to the service request from the at least one second network exposure function entity; and sending the notification message to the application server.

In an embodiment, the method may further comprise sending information of the at least one second network exposure function entity to the application server.

In an embodiment, the one or more parameters further includes at least one of a user equipment (UE) identifier (ID) , a UE Internet protocol (IP) address, a callback Uniform Resource Locator (URL) , an identifier of an application function, a service identifier of an application function, a data network name (DNN) , a network slice related identifier, a data network access identifier (DNAI) , location information, application ID, a network exposure function entity’s sub type.

In an embodiment, the UE ID represents a single UE or a group of UEs or any UE.

In an embodiment, the UE ID includes one of an internal UE ID, an external UE ID, an internal group identifier, an external group identifier, and an indication that any UE is targeted.

In an embodiment, the internal UE ID may be a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) or a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI) .

In an embodiment, the network slice related identifier may be single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) .

In an embodiment, the network exposure function entity’s sub type includes one of a central level subtype, a region level subtype, a network slice level subtype, an edge level subtype.

In an embodiment, determining at least one second network exposure function entity from one or more second network exposure function entities comprises sending a network exposure function entity discovery request including the one or more parameters to a network repository function entity; receiving a network exposure function entity discovery response including one or more second network exposure entities from the network repository function entity; and determining the at least one second network exposure function entity based on the one or more second network exposure entities.

In an embodiment, the method may further comprise sending a request for fetching at least one registered network slice information of a user equipment (UE) to a data management entity; and receiving a response including the at least one registered network slice information of the UE from the data management entity, wherein the network exposure function entity discovery request further includes the at least one registered network slice information of the UE and/or determining at least one second network exposure function entity from one or more second network exposure function entities comprises determining at least one second network exposure function entity from one or more second network exposure function entities and the at least one registered network slice information of the UE.

In an embodiment, the data management entity may be a unified data management (UDM) entity.

In an embodiment, the method may further comprise sending a register request including the first network exposure function entity’s profile to the network repository function entity, wherein the first network exposure function entity’s profile includes at least one of the one or more parameters.

In an embodiment, when the first network exposure function entity belongs to one of the at least one second network exposure function entity, the method may further comprise sending an update request to the network repository function entity for modifying the first network exposure function entity’s profile by adding an identifier of an application function and/or a service identifier of an application function.

In an embodiment, each second network exposure entity’s profile may be configured or registered in the first network exposure function entity and said each second network exposure entity’s profile includes at least one of the one or more parameters.

In an embodiment, the method may further comprise modifying the at least one second network exposure function entity’s profile by adding an identifier of an application function and/or a service identifier of an application function.

In a second aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method at a second network exposure function entity. The method comprises receiving from a first network exposure function entity a service request of an application server including one or more parameters; and processing the service request. The one or more parameters include a service application program interface (API) name and the second network exposure function entity is determined by the first network exposure function entity as a target network exposure function entity to serving the service request from one or more second network exposure function entities.

In an embodiment, the method may further comprise sending a register request including the second network exposure function entity’s profile to a network repository function entity or the first network exposure function entity, wherein the second network exposure function entity’s profile includes at least one of the one or more parameters.

In an embodiment, the method may further comprise sending an update request to the network repository function entity or the first network exposure function entity for modifying the second network exposure function entity’s profile by adding an identifier of an application function and/or a service identifier of an application function.

In an embodiment, the method may further comprise sending a service response to the first network exposure function entity.

In an embodiment, the method may further comprise sending a notification message related to the service request to the first network exposure function entity or the application server.

In a third aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method at a network repository function entity. The method comprises receiving a network exposure function entity discovery request including one or more parameters including a service application program interface (API) name from a first network exposure function entity; determining one or more second network exposure function entities from at least one second network exposure function entity; sending a network exposure function entity discovery response including the one or more second network exposure entities to the first network exposure function entity.

In an embodiment, the one or more second network exposure function entities are determined based on at least one of the one or more parameters; a second network exposure function entity of a default network slice; and one or more key performance indicators of the one or more second network exposure function entities.

In an embodiment, the method may further comprise receiving a register request including a first network exposure function entity’s profile from the first network exposure function entity, wherein the first network exposure function entity’s profile includes at least one of the one or more parameters; receiving a register request including a second network exposure function entity’s profile from the second network exposure function entity, wherein the second network exposure function entity’s profile includes at least one of the one or more parameters; and storing the first network exposure function entity’s profile and the second network exposure function entity’s profile.

In an embodiment, the method may further comprise receiving an update request from a network exposure function entity for modifying the network exposure function entity’s profile by adding an identifier of an application function and/or a service identifier of an application function; and modifying the network exposure function entity’s profile by adding the identifier of an application function and/or the service identifier of an application function.

In a fourth aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method at a data management entity. The method comprises receiving a request for fetching at least one registered network slice information of a UE from a first network exposure function entity; and sending a response including the at least one registered network slice information of the UE to the first network exposure function entity.

In a fifth aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method at an application server. The method comprises sending to a first network exposure function entity a service request including one or more parameters, wherein the one or more parameters include a service application program interface (API) name; and receiving information of at least one second network exposure function entity from the first network exposure function entity.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an apparatus at a first network exposure function entity. The apparatus comprises a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor, whereby said apparatus is operative to receive from an application server a service request including one or more parameters, wherein the one or more parameters include a service application program interface (API) name; and determine at least one second network exposure function entity from one or more second network exposure function entities.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an apparatus at a second network exposure function entity. The apparatus comprises a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor, whereby said apparatus is operative to receive from a first network exposure function entity a service request of an application server including one or more parameters; and processing the service request, wherein the one or more parameters include a service application program interface (API) name and the second network exposure function entity is determined by the first network exposure function entity as a target network exposure function entity to serving the service request from one or more second network exposure function entities.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an apparatus at a network repository function entity. The apparatus comprises a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor, whereby said apparatus is operative to receive a network exposure function entity discovery request including one or more parameters including a service application program interface (API) name from a first network exposure function entity; determine one or more second network exposure function entities second network exposure function entity; and send a network exposure function entity discovery response including the one or more second network exposure entities to the first network exposure function entity.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an apparatus at a data management entity. The apparatus comprises a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor, whereby said apparatus is operative to receive a request for fetching at least one registered network slice information of a UE from a first network exposure function entity; and send a response including the at least one registered network slice information of the UE to the first network exposure function entity.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an apparatus at an application server. The apparatus comprises a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor, whereby said apparatus is operative to send to a first network exposure function entity a service request including one or more parameters, wherein the one or more parameters include a service application program interface (API) name; and receive information of at least one second network exposure function entity from the first network exposure function entity.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to the first aspect of the disclosure.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer program product, comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to the first aspect of the disclosure.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer program product, comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to the second aspect of the disclosure.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer program product, comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to the third aspect of the disclosure.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer program product, comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to the fourth aspect of the disclosure.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer program product, comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to the fifth aspect of the disclosure.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to the first aspect of the disclosure.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to the second aspect of the disclosure.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to the third aspect of the disclosure.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to the fourth aspect of the disclosure.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to the fifth aspect of the disclosure.

Many advantages may be achieved by applying the proposed solution according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the proposed solution can enable the hierarchical architecture for network exposure function entity such as NEF deployment to fulfill variant of service needs. The proposed solution can enable network exposure function entity such as NEF service discovery based on various factors such as the service type, UE context, location, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and benefits of various embodiments of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent, by way of example, from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals or letters are used to designate like or equivalent elements. The drawings are illustrated for facilitating better understanding of the embodiments of the disclosure and not necessarily drawn to scale, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary 5G system architecture;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a non-roaming architecture for NEF in reference point representation;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a distributed/hierarchical deployment of the CAPIF;

FIG. 4 schematically shows a hierarchical deployment of the network exposure function entity according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 17 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 19a illustrates simplified block diagrams of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 19b illustrates simplified block diagrams of an apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 19c illustrates simplified block diagrams of an apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 19d illustrates simplified block diagrams of an apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 19e illustrates simplified block diagrams of an apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that these embodiments are discussed only for the purpose of enabling those skilled persons in the art to better understand and thus implement the present disclosure, rather than suggesting any limitations on the scope of the present disclosure. Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language does not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present disclosure should be or are in any single embodiment of the disclosure. Rather, language referring to the features and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the disclosure may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize that the disclosure may be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the disclosure.

As used herein, the term “network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards such as new radio (NR) or next generation communication standard. In the following description, the terms “network” and “system” can be used interchangeably. Furthermore, the communications between two devices in the network may be performed according to any suitable communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the communication protocols as defined by some of standards organizations such as 3GPP, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) , the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) , and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) , etc. For example, the communication protocols as defined by 3GPP may comprise 5G communication protocols, and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future.

The term “network device” refers to a network device in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses to the network and receives services therefrom. For example, in a wireless communication network such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, the network device may comprise access network device and core network device. For example, the access network device may comprise base station (BS) , an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, an access point (AP) , a multi-cell/multicast coordination entity (MCE) , etc. The BS may be, for example, a node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a next generation NodeB (gNodeB or gNB) , a remote radio unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a relay, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, and so forth. The core network device may comprise a plurality of network devices which may offer numerous services to the customers who are interconnected by the access network device. Each access network device is connectable to the core network device over a wired or wireless connection.

The term “network function (NF) ” refers to any suitable function which can be implemented in a network device of a wireless/wired communication network. For example, in 5G network, the network function may comprise AUSF, AMF, DN, NEF, NRF, NSSF, PCF, SMF, UDM, UPF, AF, UE, (R) AN, 5G-Equipment Identity Register (5G-EIR) , Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP) , Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF) , Unified Data Repository (UDR) , Unstructured Data Storage Function (UDSF) , etc.

The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that can access a communication network and receive services therefrom. By way of example and not limitation, in the wireless communication network, the terminal device may refer to a mobile terminal, a user equipment (UE) , a terminal device, or other suitable devices. The terminal device may be, for example, a Subscriber Station (SS) , a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS) , or an Access Terminal (AT) . The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a portable computer, an image capture device such as a digital camera, a gaming terminal device, a music storage and a playback appliance, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a tablet, a wearable device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a portable computer, a desktop computer, a wearable device, a vehicle-mounted wireless device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , a laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , a USB dongle, a smart device, a wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE) and the like. In the following description, the terms “terminal device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably. As one example, a UE may represent a terminal device configured for communication in accordance with one or more communication standards promulgated by the 3GPP, such as 3GPP’ LTE standard or NR standard. As used herein, a “user equipment” or “UE” may not necessarily have a “user” in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. In some embodiments, a terminal device may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the wireless communication network. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but that may not initially be associated with a specific human user.

As yet another example, in an Internet of Things (IOT) scenario, a terminal device may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another terminal device and/or network equipment. The UE may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as a machine-type communication (MTC) device. As one particular example, the terminal device may be a UE implementing the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances, for example refrigerators, televisions, personal wearables such as watches etc. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

References in the specification to “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” “an example embodiment, ” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It shall be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

Please note that the terms “network exposure function entity” , “application server” , “data management entity” and “network repository function entity” , etc. as used in this document are used only for ease of description and differentiation among nodes, devices or networks etc. The “network exposure function entity” , “application server” , “data management entity” and “network repository function entity” may be similar to NEF, AF, UDM and NRF, and provide similar functionalities as these NFs for example as defined in 3GPP TS 23.501 V16.0.2. With the development of the technology, other terms with the similar/same meanings may also be used.

FIG. 4 schematically shows a hierarchical deployment of the network exposure function entity according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the network exposure function entity is NEF of 5G system. As shown in FIG. 4, the network exposure function entity may be of various subtypes such as a centralized NEF (C-NEF 401, C-NEF 402) , one or more network slice (S-NEF410, S-NEF 412, S-NEF 414) , one or more edge site level NEFs (E-NEF 404) , and one or more region level NEF (R-NEF 403) , etc. The network exposure function entity may have several instances like C-NEF 401, C-NEF 402, R-NEF 403, S-NEF 410, S-NEF 412, S-NEF 414 and E-NEF 404 which can be assigned with different roles. S-NEF 410, S-NEF 412 and S-NEF 414 can provide service APIs for services X, Y, and Z, respectively, for the respective network slice where they are deployed. In the example in FIG. 4 S-NEF-1 provides service APIs for Network Slice A; S-NEF-2 provides service APIs for Network Slice B; and S-NEF-3 provides service APIS for Network Slice C. C-

NEF

401 and 402 can act as single service entry point to all the service APIs and hide the topology of service APIs from the API invoker. It also applies access control or policy control to the interactions between the API invoker and underlying exposure functions. E-NEF 404 which can provide the exposure of local network information can be based on a local NEF instance deployed in the edge. It is noted that the numbers, roles and/or subtypes of the network exposure function entity as shown in FIG. 4 are used only for ease of description and they may be changed in other embodiments.

Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in any appropriate type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a communication system complied with the exemplary system architecture illustrated in FIG. 4. For simplicity, the system architecture of FIG. 4 only depicts some exemplary elements. In practice, a communication system may further include any additional elements suitable to support communication between terminal devices or between a wireless device and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, a service provider, or any other network node or terminal device. The communication system may provide communication and various types of services to one or more terminal devices to facilitate the terminal devices’ access to and/or use of the services provided by, or via, the communication system.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of a method 500 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at a first network exposure function entity such as the C-NEF as shown in FIG. 4 or communicatively coupled to the first network exposure function entity. As such, the first network exposure function entity may provide means for accomplishing various parts of the method 500 as well as means for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components.

At block 502, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF receives from an application server such as AF a service request including one or more parameters. The service request may be related to any service which can provide by the first network exposure function entity. For example, in 5G, the service request may be related to any suitable NEF services as described in clause 5.2.6 of 3GPP TS 23.502 version 16.0.2. The one or more parameters may be any suitable parameters for example depending on the specific service request. In an embodiment, the one or more parameters may include a service application program interface (API) name.

In an embodiment, the one or more parameters may further include at least one of a user equipment (UE) identifier (ID) , a UE Internet protocol (IP) address, a callback Uniform Resource Locator (URL) , an identifier of an application function, a service identifier of an application function, a data network name (DNN) , a network slice related identifier, a data network access identifier (DNAI) , location information (such as notificationDestination, trafficRoutes, GeoZoneIds) , application ID, a network exposure function entity’s sub type (such as C-NEF, R-NEF, S-NEF, E-NEF, etc. ) .

In an embodiment, the UE ID may represent a single UE or a group of UEs or any UE.

In an embodiment, the UE ID may include one of an internal UE ID, an external UE ID, an internal group identifier, an external group identifier, and an indication that any UE is targeted.

In an embodiment, the network exposure function entity’s sub type may include one of a central level subtype, a region level subtype, a network slice level subtype, an edge level subtype.

At block 504, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF may send a request for fetching at least one registered network slice information of a user equipment (UE) to a data management entity. For example, in 5G, the AMF or SMF may include the registered network slice information (such as S-NSSAI) of the UE in a Nudm_UECM_Registration service operation, and this information may be stored in the UDM for a NF consumer (e.g. C-NEF) to fetch the information via a Nudm_UECM_GET service operation.

At block 506, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF may receive a response including the at least one registered network slice information of the UE from the data management entity. The network exposure function entity discovery request as described below may further include the at least one registered network slice information of the UE which can be used by the network repository function entity such as NRF to discover the NEF registered or serving such network slice, such as S/E-NEF. In addition, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF may determine the at least one second network exposure function entity based on the at least one registered network slice information of the UE as described below. For example, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF can find the route to S/E-NEF according to the service (e.g. Event Monitoring) , location (e.g. Application hosted in edge) , UE context/subscription information from NRF and optionally UDM and make routing decision.

Blocks

504 and 506 are optional. For example, in 5G, when the 3rd party application request/subscribe for the capability exposure of single UE, it may need to know the UE context (e.g. which network slice the UE is registered) , subscription data in order to find the route of traffic to proper NEF instances. C-NEF may use Nudm_SDM_Get operation to fetch UE subscription information, and then C-NEF may send the Nudm_UECM_Get towards UDM to retrieve UE context information, e.g. the registered network slice info (the network slice info has been registered during UECM (UE Context Management) registration procedure from AMF/SMF) . The result of

blocks

504 and 506 together with the discovery result from NRF can be used as input for NRF discovery (e.g. by means of the at least one registered network slice information) .

At block 508, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF determines at least one second network exposure function entity from one or more second network exposure function entities. The first network exposure function entity may determine at least one second network exposure function entity in various ways such as based on a predefined/configured rule. In addition, the first network exposure function entity may determine at least one second network exposure function entity by itself or by means of another network device such as NRF.

In an embodiment, the at least one second network exposure function entity may be determined based on at least one of the one or more parameters; a second network exposure function entity of a default network slice; and one or more key performance indicators of the one or more second network exposure function entities. For example, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF may choose a second network exposure function entity such as S-NEF of a default network slice when no network slice related information is provided by the application server such as AF. The first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF may choose a second network exposure function entity such as S-NEF based on network internal KPI e.g. load, capacity etc.

In an embodiment, the first network exposure function entity may determine at least one second network exposure function entity by sending a network exposure function entity discovery request including the one or more parameters to a network repository function entity; receiving a network exposure function entity discovery response including one or more second network exposure entities from the network repository function entity; and determining the at least one second network exposure function entity based on the one or more second network exposure entities. For example, in 5G, the network repository function entity such as NRF may store various network exposure function entities’ profile which may include various parameters such as

- NF instance ID

- NF type

- NF subtype (Central/Region/Network Slice/Edge Level subtype)

- Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) ID

- Network Slice related Identifier (s) , e.g. S-NSSAI, NSI ID

- Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) or IP address of NF

- NF capacity information

- NF Specific Service authorization information

- Names of supported services

- Endpoint Address (es) of instance (s) of each supported service

- Identification of stored data/information

- Other service parameter, e.g., DNN, DNAI, traffic routes (N6 routing info) , notification endpoint for each type of notification that the NF service is interested in receiving.

- AF IDs/AF Service IDs (The NEF includes a list of AF IDs and AF Service IDs corresponding to the Application Functions that it can reach. This is used to identify which NEF Instance (s) serves a specific AF. When the AF provides an AF-Service-Identifier i.e. an identifier of the service on behalf of which the AF is issuing the request, the 5G Core maps this identifier into a target DNN, DNAI (s) and slicing information (S-NSSAI) if they are not provided by AF directly)

- NF Instance location information (Locality where NEF is located, e.g. data center, Geographic location, etc. )

- UE Information (e.g. GPSI/ranges, external id/ranges, external group ID/ranges)

- etc.

The first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF may use the service discovery mechanism provided by NRF to find one or more proper network exposure function entities/instances based on various parameters included in the network exposure function entity discovery request such as the service required. In addition, location information may also be needed for NEF discovery in some scenarios such as edge scenario. The following factors can be considered as for the network exposure function entity discovery and selection,

-AF ID/AF Service ID

-Service Name (s)

-S-NSSAI

-NSI ID

-DNN/DNAI

-Location information (e.g. data center, geographic area)

-NF sub type

-notificationDestination, trafficRoutes, GeoZoneIds

-GPSI/external UE ID/External group ID, UE IP address etc.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a method 600 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at a first network exposure function entity such as the C-NEF as shown in FIG. 4 or communicatively coupled to the first network exposure function entity. As such, the first network exposure function entity may provide means for accomplishing various parts of the method 600 as well as means for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components. For some parts which have been described in the above embodiments, detailed description thereof is omitted here for brevity.

At block 602, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF sends a register request including the first network exposure function entity’s profile to the network repository function entity such as NRF. The first network exposure function entity’s profile may include various parameters for example depending on the specific network. For example, in 5G wherein the first network exposure function entity’s profile may include various parameters as described above. In general, the first network exposure function entity’s profile may include at least one of the one or more parameters which can be used by the network repository function entity such as NRF to discover a suitable NEF to serve the service request.

Blocks

604, 606, 608 and 610 are similar to

blocks

502, 504, 506 and 508 respectively.

At block 612, when the first network exposure function entity belongs to one of the at least one second network exposure function entity, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF sends an update request to the network repository function entity for modifying the first network exposure function entity’s profile by adding an identifier of an application function and/or a service identifier of an application function. The network repository function entity such as NRF would be able to associate the AF services with the network exposure function entity (such as NEF) instances to facilitate the network exposure function entity discovery based on an identifier of an application function and/or a service identifier of an application function. Afterwards, if the association is already existed, block 608 can be skipped.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a method 700 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at a first network exposure function entity such as the C-NEF as shown in FIG. 4 or communicatively coupled to the first network exposure function entity. As such, the first network exposure function entity may provide means for accomplishing various parts of the method 700 as well as means for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components. For some parts which have been described in the above embodiments, detailed description thereof is omitted here for brevity.

At block 702, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF receives a register request including a network exposure function entity’s profile from each second network exposure function entity. The second network exposure function entity’s profile may include various parameters for example depending on the specific network. For example, in 5G wherein the second network exposure function entity’s profile may include various parameters as described above. In general, the second network exposure function entity’s profile may include at least one of the one or more parameters which can be used by the first network exposure function entity to discover a suitable NEF to serve the service request. In addition, when each second network exposure entity’s profile is configured in the first network exposure function entity, block 702 can be skipped.

At block 704, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF stores the network exposure function entity’s profile of each second network exposure function entity.

Blocks

706, 708, 710 and 712 are similar to

blocks

502, 504, 506 and 508 respectively.

At block 714, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF modifies the at least one second network exposure function entity’s profile by adding an identifier of an application function and/or a service identifier of an application function. The first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF would be able to associate the AF services with network exposure function entity (such as NEF) instances to facilitate the network exposure function entity discovery based on an identifier of an application function and/or a service identifier of an application function. Afterwards, if the association is already existed, block 714 can be skipped.

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of a method 800 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at a first network exposure function entity such as the C-NEF as shown in FIG. 4 or communicatively coupled to the first network exposure function entity. As such, the first network exposure function entity may provide means for accomplishing various parts of the method 800 as well as means for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components. For some parts which have been described in the above embodiments, detailed description thereof is omitted here for brevity.

Blocks

802, 804, 806 and 808 are similar to

blocks

502, 504, 506 and 508 respectively.

At block 810, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF sends the service request to the at least one second network exposure function entity. For example, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF may route the service request to the at least one second network exposure function entity such as a dedicated S/E-NEF in a dedicated network slice or edge data center transparently. The at least one second network exposure function entity such as S/E-NEF may send the service request to a relevant NF in the network slice/edge location for the specific UE (s) , receive a service response from the relevant NF and then forward the service response to the first network exposure function entity.

At block 812, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF receives the service response from the at least one second network exposure function entity.

At block 814, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF sends the service response to the application server. The service response may include a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) or Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the at least one second network exposure function entity.

At block 816, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF receives a notification message related to the service request from the at least one second network exposure function entity. For example, in 5G, the notification message may be any suitable NEF notification as described in clause 5.2.6 of 3GPP TS 23.502 version 16.0.2.

At block 818, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF sends the notification message to the application server.

Blocks

816 and 818 could be optional. For example, the notification can be reported via the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF or directly from at least one second network exposure function entity such as S/E-NEF towards the application server for example, depends on the location of the AF/AS. When the notification is reported directly from at least one second network exposure function entity such as S/E-NEF towards the application server, blocks 816 and 818 can be omitted.

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of a method 900 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at a first network exposure function entity such as the C-NEF as shown in FIG. 4 or communicatively coupled to the first network exposure function entity. As such, the first network exposure function entity may provide means for accomplishing various parts of the method 900 as well as means for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components. For some parts which have been described in the above embodiments, detailed description thereof is omitted here for brevity.

Blocks

902, 904, 906 and 908 are similar to

blocks

502, 504, 506 and 508 respectively.

At block 910, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF sends information of at least one second network exposure function entity to the application server. For example, the first network exposure function entity such as C-NEF may send back a redirection message to the application server such as AF which may trigger the application server to routing the service request directly to the at least one second network exposure function entity. This embodiment may potentially simplify the signaling path.

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of a method 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at a second network exposure function entity such as the S/E-NEF as shown in FIG. 4 or communicatively coupled to the second network exposure function entity. As such, the second network exposure function entity may provide means for accomplishing various parts of the method 1000 as well as means for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components. For some parts which have been described in the above embodiments, detailed description thereof is omitted here for brevity.

At block 1010, the second network exposure function entity such as S/E-NEF receives from a first network exposure function entity a service request of an application server including one or more parameters. The one or more parameters include a service application program interface (API) name and the second network exposure function entity is determined by the first network exposure function entity as a target network exposure function entity to serving the service request from one or more second network exposure function entities. For example, the first network exposure function entity may determine the second network exposure function as the target network exposure function entity to serving the service request at block 508 of FIG. 5 and send the service request at block 810 of FIG. 8, and then the second network exposure function entity may receive the service request.

At block 1020, the second network exposure function entity such as S/E-NEF processes the service request. Depending on the specific service request, the second network exposure function entity such as S/E-NEF may take any suitable operations to process the service request. For example, when the service request is related to the NEF services, the second network exposure function entity such as S/E-NEF may process the service request as described in clause 5.2.6 of 3GPP TS 23.502 version 16.0.2.

FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of a method 1100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at a second network exposure function entity such as the S/E-NEF as shown in FIG. 4 or communicatively coupled to the second network exposure function entity. As such, the second network exposure function entity may provide means for accomplishing various parts of the method 1100 as well as means for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components. For some parts which have been described in the above embodiments, detailed description thereof is omitted here for brevity.

At block 1110, the second network exposure function entity such as S/E-NEF sends a register request including the second network exposure function entity’s profile to a network repository function entity or the first network exposure function entity. The second network exposure function entity’s profile includes at least one of the one or more parameters.

Blocks

1120 and 1130 are similar to

blocks

1010 and 1020 respectively.

At block 1140, the second network exposure function entity such as S/E-NEF sends an update request to the network repository function entity for modifying the second network exposure function entity’s profile by adding an identifier of an application function and/or a service identifier of an application function.

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of a method 1200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at a second network exposure function entity such as the S/E-NEF as shown in FIG. 4 or communicatively coupled to the second network exposure function entity. As such, the second network exposure function entity may provide means for accomplishing various parts of the method 1200 as well as means for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components. For some parts which have been described in the above embodiments, detailed description thereof is omitted here for brevity.

Blocks

1210 and 1220 are similar to

blocks

1010 and 1020 respectively.

At block 1230, the second network exposure function entity such as S/E-NEF sends a service response to the first network exposure function entity. For example, the second network exposure function entity such as S/E-NEF may send the service request to a relevant NF in the network slice/edge location for the specific UE (s) , receive a service response from the relevant NF and then forward the service response to the first network exposure function entity.

At block 1240, the second network exposure function entity such as S/E-NEF sends a notification message related to the service request to the first network exposure function entity or the application server. For example, in 5G, the notification message may be any suitable NEF notification as described in clause 5.2.6 of 3GPP TS 23.502 version 16.0.2.

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of a method 1300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at a network repository function entity such as the NRF as shown in FIG. 4 or communicatively coupled to the network repository function entity. As such, the network repository function entity may provide means for accomplishing various parts of the method 1300 as well as means for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components. For some parts which have been described in the above embodiments, detailed description thereof is omitted here for brevity.

At block 1310, the network repository function entity such as the NRF receives a network exposure function entity discovery request including one or more parameters including a service application program interface (API) name from a first network exposure function entity. For example, the first network exposure function entity may send the network exposure function entity discovery request as described above, and then the network repository function entity such as the NRF may receive the network exposure function entity discovery request.

At block 1320, the network repository function entity such as the NRF determines one or more second network exposure function entities from at least one second network exposure function entity. The one or more second network exposure function entities may be determined based on at least one of the one or more parameters; a second network exposure function entity of a default network slice; and one or more key performance indicators of the one or more second network exposure function entities as described above.

At block 1330, the network repository function entity such as the NRF sends a network exposure function entity discovery response including the one or more second network exposure entities to the first network exposure function entity.

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart of a method 1400 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at a network repository function entity such as the NRF as shown in FIG. 4 or communicatively coupled to the network repository function entity. As such, the network repository function entity may provide means for accomplishing various parts of the method 1400 as well as means for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components. For some parts which have been described in the above embodiments, detailed description thereof is omitted here for brevity.

At block 1410, the network repository function entity such as the NRF receives a register request including a first network exposure function entity’s profile from the first network exposure function entity, wherein the first network exposure function entity’s profile includes at least one of the one or more parameters.

At block 1420, the network repository function entity such as the NRF receives a register request including a second network exposure function entity’s profile from the second network exposure function entity, wherein the second network exposure function entity’s profile includes at least one of the one or more parameters.

At block 1430, the network repository function entity such as the NRF stores the first network exposure function entity’s profile and the second network exposure function entity’s profile. When there are two or more second network exposure function entities, blocks 1420 and 1430 may be performed multiple times.

Blocks

1440, 1450 and 1460 are similar to

blocks

1310, 1320 and 1330 respectively.

At block 1470, the network repository function entity such as the NRF receives an update request from a network exposure function entity for modifying the network exposure function entity’s profile by adding the identifier of an application function and/or the service identifier of an application function.

At block 1480, the network repository function entity such as the NRF modifies the network exposure function entity’s profile by adding an identifier of an application function and/or a service identifier of an application function.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart of a method 1500 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at a data management entity such as the UDM as shown in FIG. 4 or communicatively coupled to the data management entity. As such, the data management entity may provide means for accomplishing various parts of the method 1500 as well as means for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components. For some parts which have been described in the above embodiments, detailed description thereof is omitted here for brevity.

At block 1510, the data management entity such as the UDM receives a request for fetching at least one registered network slice information of a UE from a first network exposure function entity. The at least one registered network slice information may have been registered in the data management entity. For example, in 5G, the at least one registered network slice information may have been registered in the data management entity during UECM registration procedure from AMF/SMF.

At block 1520, the data management entity such as the UDM sends a response including the at least one registered network slice information of the UE to the first network exposure function entity.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart of a method 1600 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at an application server such as the AF as shown in FIG. 4 or communicatively coupled to the application server. As such, the application server may provide means for accomplishing various parts of the method 1600 as well as means for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components. For some parts which have been described in the above embodiments, detailed description thereof is omitted here for brevity.

At block 1610, the application server sends to a first network exposure function entity a service request including one or more parameters, wherein the one or more parameters include a service application program interface (API) name.

At block 1620, the application server receives information of at least one second network exposure function entity from the first network exposure function entity.

FIG. 17 shows a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the method is implemented in 5G.

At step 1, the NEFs deployed in the network use the Nnrf_NFManagement service to register the NEF instances in the NRF. Each NEF instance supplies its own NEF profile to NRF. This NEF registration into the NRF is enhanced to include a new NEF subtype information that classifies the NEF instance into central, regional, network slice-level, etc.

The NEF profile contains the following typical information, with the enhancements created by this invention highlighted in bold:

- NF instance ID

- NF type

- NF subtype (Central/Region/Network Slice/Edge Level subtype)

- PLMN ID

- Network Slice related Identifier (s) e.g. S-NSSAI, NSI ID

- FQDN or IP address of NF

- NF capacity information

- NF Specific Service authorization information

- Names of supported services

- Endpoint Address (es) of instance (s) of each supported service

- Identification of stored data/information

- NF Instance location information (Locality where NEF is located, e.g. data center, Geographic location, …)

- etc.

At step 2, AF sends the Service request for single/Any/Group UE including AF/AS (application server) ID, GPSI, UE IP, optionally including DNN, SNSSAI, DNAI, notificationDestination, trafficRoutes, GeoZoneIds, etc.

At step 3, when the NEF (s) receives the AF/AS service request, it may send an update request towards NRF for modifying the NEF Profile by adding the AF ID and/or AF Service ID, which would be able to associate the AF Services with NEF Instances to facilitate the NEF discovery based on the AF/AF Service Identifier afterwards, if the association is already existed, this step can be skipped (note: S/E-NEF update may happen after the C-NEF discover in step 7)

At step 4, C-NEF needs to use NRF discovery mechanism to find the proper S/E-NEF (s) instance based on the service required, Location info may also be needed for NEF discovery in edge scenario. Following factors can be considered as for NEF discovery and selection:

AF ID/AF Service ID

Service Name (s)

S-NSSAI

NSI ID

DNN/DNAI

Location information (e.g. data center, geographic area)

NF sub type

notificationDestination, trafficRoutes, GeoZoneIds

GPSI/external UE ID/External group ID, UE IP address etc.

At step 5, this step could be optional, when the 3rd party application request/subscribe for the capability exposure of single UE, it may need to know the UE context (e.g. which network slice the UE is registered) , subscription data (S-NSSAIs) in order to find the route of traffic to proper NEF instances

Step 5a) C-NEF uses Nudm_SDM_Get operation to fetch UE subscription information, e.g. subscribed S-NSSAI, then, step 5b) it sends the Nudm_UECM_Get towards UDM to retrieve UE context information, e.g. the at least one registered network slice (the at least one registered network slice have been registered during UECM registration procedure from AMF/SMF) ,

Note: implementation wise, step 5 can be done before step 4, the result of step 5 could be used as input for NRF discovery as well (e.g. the at least one registered network slice info)

At step 6, based on the input from NRF and UDM, C-NEF finds the route to S/E-NEF according to the service (e.g. Event Monitoring) , location (e.g. App hosted in edge) & UE Context/subs information from NRF and optionally UDM and make routing decision

Note: another possible option is C-NEF may send back a redirection/3xx to AF, e.g. to trigger AF routing traffic directly to S/E-NEF (potentially simplify the signaling path)

At step 7, C-NEF routes the traffic to dedicated S/E-NEF in dedicated network slice or edge data center transparently

At step 8, S/E-NEF sends service requests to relevant 5GC NFs in the network slice/edge location for the specific UE (s) , C-NEF may include URL/URI of S/E-NEF in 2xx result back to AF

At step 9, notification generated from 5GC NFs will be sent back to the S/E-NEF

At step 10, depending on the location of the AF/AS, the notification can be reported via C-NEF or directly from S/E-NEF towards the AF/AS.

FIG. 18 shows a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the method is implemented in 5G. The NEF (s) implements an internal registry, typically configured by OAM (Operations, administration and management) procedures, that keeps track and is responsible of the NEF discovery and selection policies. This means that the C-NEF is configured and maintains the hierarchical configuration rules for all the NEF instances deployed in the network, so that it can discover other NEFs, such as the S-NEF and E-NEF, and determine the routing policies by itself, without involve the NRF discovery. Additionally, C-NEF distributes the routing information to the rest of the NEFs deployed in the network for enabling local routing capabilities at each NEF, this difference is in step 1 & step 3 of FIG. 18, and other steps are same as the corresponding steps as shown in FIG. 18.

The various blocks/steps shown in FIGs. 5-18 may be viewed as method steps, and/or as operations that result from operation of computer program code, and/or as a plurality of coupled logic circuit elements constructed to carry out the associated function (s) . The schematic flow chart diagrams described above are generally set forth as logical flow chart diagrams. As such, the depicted order and labeled steps are indicative of specific embodiments of the presented methods. Other steps and methods may be conceived that are equivalent in function, logic, or effect to one or more steps, or portions thereof, of the illustrated methods. Additionally, the order in which a particular method occurs may or may not strictly adhere to the order of the corresponding steps shown.

FIG. 19a illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 1910 that may be embodied in/as a first network exposure function entity according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 19b illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 1920 that may be embodied in/as a second network exposure function entity according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 19c illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 1930 that may be embodied in/as a network repository function entity according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 19d illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 1940 that may be embodied in/as a data management entity according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 19e illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 1950 that may be embodied in/as an application server according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The apparatus 1910 may comprise at least one processor 1911, such as a data processor (DP) and at least one memory (MEM) 1912 coupled to the processor 1911. The apparatus 1910 may further comprise a transmitter TX and receiver RX 1913 coupled to the processor 1911. The MEM 1912 stores a program (PROG) 1914. The PROG 1914 may include instructions that, when executed on the associated processor 1911, enable the apparatus 1910 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example to perform the method related to the first network exposure function entity as described above. A combination of the at least one processor 1911 and the at least one MEM 1912 may form processing means 1915 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The apparatus 1920 comprises at least one processor 1921, such as a DP, and at least one MEM 1922 coupled to the processor 1921. The apparatus 1920 may further comprise a transmitter TX and receiver RX 1923 coupled to the processor 1921. The MEM 1922 stores a PROG 1924. The PROG 1924 may include instructions that, when executed on the associated processor 1921, enable the apparatus 1920 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example to perform the method related to the second network exposure function entity as described above. A combination of the at least one processor 1921 and the at least one MEM 1922 may form processing means 1925 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The apparatus 1930 comprises at least one processor 1931, such as a DP, and at least one MEM 1932 coupled to the processor 1931. The apparatus 1930 may further comprise a transmitter TX and receiver RX 1933 coupled to the processor 1931. The MEM 1932 stores a PROG 1934. The PROG 1934 may include instructions that, when executed on the associated processor 1931, enable the apparatus 1930 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example to perform the method related to the network repository function entity as described above. A combination of the at least one processor 1931 and the at least one MEM 1932 may form processing means 1935 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The apparatus 1940 comprises at least one processor 1941, such as a DP, and at least one MEM 1942 coupled to the processor 1941. The apparatus 1940 may further comprise a transmitter TX and receiver RX 1943 coupled to the processor 1941. The MEM 1942 stores a PROG 1944. The PROG 1944 may include instructions that, when executed on the associated processor 1941, enable the apparatus 1940 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example to perform the method related to the data management entity as described above. A combination of the at least one processor 1941 and the at least one MEM 1942 may form processing means 1945 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The apparatus 1950 comprises at least one processor 1951, such as a DP, and at least one MEM 1952 coupled to the processor 1951. The apparatus 1950 may further comprise a transmitter TX and receiver RX 1953 coupled to the processor 1951. The MEM 1952 stores a PROG 1954. The PROG 1954 may include instructions that, when executed on the associated processor 1951, enable the apparatus 1950 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example to perform the method related to the application server as described above. A combination of the at least one processor 1951 and the at least one MEM 1952 may form processing means 1955 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by computer program executable by one or more of the

processors

1911, 1921, 1931, 1941 and 1951, software, firmware, hardware or in a combination thereof.

The

MEMs

1912, 1922, 1932, 1942 and 1952 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memories and removable memories, as non-limiting examples.

The

processors

1911, 1921, 1931, 1941 and 1951 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors DSPs and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples.

According to an aspect of the disclosure it is provided a computer program product being tangibly stored on a computer readable storage medium and including instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods related to the first network exposure function entity as described above.

According to an aspect of the disclosure it is provided a computer program product being tangibly stored on a computer readable storage medium and including instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods related to the second network exposure function entity as described above.

According to an aspect of the disclosure it is provided a computer program product being tangibly stored on a computer readable storage medium and including instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods related to the network repository function entity as described above.

According to an aspect of the disclosure it is provided a computer program product being tangibly stored on a computer readable storage medium and including instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods related to the data management entity as described above.

According to an aspect of the disclosure it is provided a computer program product being tangibly stored on a computer readable storage medium and including instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods related to the application server as described above.

According to an aspect of the disclosure it is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods related to the first network exposure function entity as described above.

According to an aspect of the disclosure it is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods related to the second network exposure function entity as described above.

According to an aspect of the disclosure it is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods related to the network repository function entity as described above.

According to an aspect of the disclosure it is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods related to the data management entity as described above.

According to an aspect of the disclosure it is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods related to the application server as described above.

In addition, the present disclosure may also provide a carrier containing the computer program as mentioned above, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium can be, for example, an optical compact disk or an electronic memory device like a RAM (random access memory) , a ROM (read only memory) , Flash memory, magnetic tape, CD-ROM, DVD, Blue-ray disc and the like.

The techniques described herein may be implemented by various means so that an apparatus implementing one or more functions of a corresponding apparatus described with an embodiment comprises not only prior art means, but also means for implementing the one or more functions of the corresponding apparatus described with the embodiment and it may comprise separate means for each separate function or means that may be configured to perform one or more functions. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware (one or more apparatuses) , firmware (one or more apparatuses) , software (one or more modules) , or combinations thereof. For a firmware or software, implementation may be made through modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein.

Exemplary embodiments herein have been described above with reference to block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods and apparatuses. It will be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, can be implemented by various means including computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the subject matter described herein, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any implementation or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of particular implementations. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a sub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.

It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as the technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. The above described embodiments are given for describing rather than limiting the disclosure, and it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as those skilled in the art readily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of the disclosure and the appended claims. The protection scope of the disclosure is defined by the accompanying claims.

Claims

A method (500) at a first network exposure function entity, comprising:

receiving (502) from an application server a service request including one or more parameters, wherein the one or more parameters include a service application program interface (API) name; and

determining (508) at least one second network exposure function entity from one or more second network exposure function entities.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one second network exposure function entity is determined based on at least one of

the one or more parameters;

a second network exposure function entity of a default network slice; and

one or more key performance indicators of the one or more second network exposure function entities.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

sending (810) the service request to the at least one second network exposure function entity.
The method according to claim 3, further comprising:

receiving (812) a service response from the at least one second network exposure function entity; and

sending (814) the service response to the application server.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the service response includes a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) or Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the at least one second network exposure function entity.
The method according to any of claims 3-5, further comprising:

receiving (816) a notification message related to the service request from the at least one second network exposure function entity; and

sending (818) the notification message to the application server.
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

sending (910) information of the at least one second network exposure function entity to the application server.
The method according to any of claims 1-7, wherein the one or more parameters further includes at least one of

a user equipment (UE) identifier (ID) ,

a UE Internet protocol (IP) address,

a callback Uniform Resource Locator (URL) ,

an identifier of an application function,

a service identifier of an application function,

a data network name (DNN) ,

a network slice related identifier,

a data network access identifier (DNAI) ,

location information,

application ID,

a network exposure function entity’s sub type.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the UE ID represents a single UE or a group of UEs or any UE.
The method according to claim 9, wherein the UE ID includes one of an internal UE ID, an external UE ID, an internal group identifier, an external group identifier, and an indication that any UE is targeted.
The method according to claim 10, wherein the internal UE ID is a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) or a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI) .
The method according to any of claims 8-11, wherein the network slice related identifier is single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) .
The method according to any of claims 8-12, wherein the network exposure function entity’s sub type includes one of a central level subtype, a region level subtype, a network slice level subtype, an edge level subtype.
The method according to any of claims 1-13, wherein determining at least one second network exposure function entity from one or more second network exposure function entities comprises:

sending a network exposure function entity discovery request including the one or more parameters to a network repository function entity;

receiving a network exposure function entity discovery response including one or more second network exposure entities from the network repository function entity; and

determining the at least one second network exposure function entity based on the one or more second network exposure entities.
The method according to any of claim 14, further comprising:

sending (504) a request for fetching at least one registered network slice information of a user equipment (UE) to a data management entity; and

receiving (506) a response including the at least one registered network slice information of the UE from the data management entity,

wherein the network exposure function entity discovery request further includes the at least one registered network slice information of the UE and/or determining at least one second network exposure function entity from one or more second network exposure function entities comprises determining at least one second network exposure function entity from one or more second network exposure function entities and the at least one registered network slice information of the UE.
The method according to claim 15, wherein the data management entity is a unified data management (UDM) entity.
The method according to any of claims 14-16, further comprising:

sending (602) a register request including the first network exposure function entity’s profile to the network repository function entity, wherein the first network exposure function entity’s profile includes at least one of the one or more parameters.
The method according to claim 17, wherein when the first network exposure function entity belongs to one of the at least one second network exposure function entity, the method further comprising

sending (612) an update request to the network repository function entity for modifying the first network exposure function entity’s profile by adding an identifier of an application function and/or a service identifier of an application function.
The method according to any of claims 1-13, wherein each second network exposure entity’s profile is configured or registered in the first network exposure function entity and said each second network exposure entity’s profile includes at least one of the one or more parameters.
The method according to claim 19, further comprising:

modifying (714) the at least one second network exposure function entity’s profile by adding an identifier of an application function and/or a service identifier of an application function.
A method (1000) at a second network exposure function entity, comprising:

receiving (1010) from a first network exposure function entity a service request of an application server including one or more parameters; and

processing (1020) the service request,

wherein the one or more parameters include a service application program interface (API) name and the second network exposure function entity is determined by the first network exposure function entity as a target network exposure function entity to serving the service request from one or more second network exposure function entities.
The method according to claim 21, wherein the second network exposure function entity is determined based on at least one of

the one or more parameters;

a second network exposure function entity of a default network slice; and

one or more key performance indicators of the one or more second network exposure function entities.
The method according to claim 22, wherein the one or more parameters further includes at least one of

a user equipment (UE) identifier (ID) ,

a UE Internet protocol (IP) address,

a callback URL,

an identifier of an application function,

a service identifier of an application function,

a data network name (DNN) ,

a network slice related identifier,

a data network access identifier (DNAI) ,

location information,

application ID,

a network exposure function entity’s sub type.
The method according to claim 23, wherein the UE ID represents a single UE or a group of UEs or any UE.
The method according to claim 24, wherein the UE ID includes one of an internal UE ID, an external UE ID, an internal group identifier, an external group identifier, and an indication that any UE is targeted.
The method according to claim 25, wherein the internal UE ID is a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) or a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI) .
The method according to claim 26, wherein the network slice related identifier the network slice related identifier is single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) .
The method according to any of claims 22-27, wherein the network exposure function entity’s sub type includes one of a central level subtype, a region level subtype, a network slice level subtype , an edge level subtype.
The method according to any of claims 21-28, further comprising:

sending (1110) a register request including the second network exposure function entity’s profile to a network repository function entity or the first network exposure function entity, wherein the second network exposure function entity’s profile includes at least one of the one or more parameters.
The method according to claim 29, further comprising

sending (1140) an update request to the network repository function entity or the first network exposure function entity for modifying the second network exposure function entity’s profile by adding an identifier of an application function and/or a service identifier of an application function.
The method according to any of claims 21-30, further comprising:

sending (1230) a service response to the first network exposure function entity.
The method according to any of claims 21-31, further comprising:

sending (1240) a notification message related to the service request to the first network exposure function entity or the application server.
A method (1300) at a network repository function entity, comprising:

receiving (1310) a network exposure function entity discovery request including one or more parameters including a service application program interface (API) name from a first network exposure function entity;

determining (1320) one or more second network exposure function entities from at least one second network exposure function entity; and

sending (1330) a network exposure function entity discovery response including the one or more second network exposure entities to the first network exposure function entity.
The method according to claim 33, wherein the one or more second network exposure function entities are determined based on at least one of

the one or more parameters;

a second network exposure function entity of a default network slice; and

one or more key performance indicators of the one or more second network exposure function entities.
The method according to claim 34, wherein the one or more parameters further includes at least one of

a user equipment (UE) identifier (ID) ,

a UE Internet protocol (IP) address,

a callback URL,

an identifier of an application function,

a service identifier of an application function,

a data network name (DNN) ,

a network slice related identifier,

a data network access identifier (DNAI) ,

location information,

application ID,

a network exposure function entity’s sub type.
The method according to claim 35, wherein the UE ID represents a single UE or a group of UEs or any UE.
The method according to claim 36, wherein the UE ID includes one of an internal UE ID, an external UE ID, an internal group identifier, an external group identifier, and an indication that any UE is targeted.
The method according to claim 37, wherein the internal UE ID is a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) or a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI) .
The method according to any of claims 35-38, wherein the network slice related identifier is single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) .
The method according to any of claims 35-39, wherein the network exposure function entity’s sub type includes one of a central level subtype, a region level subtype, a network slice level subtype , an edge level subtype.
The method according to any of claims 33-40, further comprising

receiving (1410) a register request including a first network exposure function entity’s profile from the first network exposure function entity, wherein the first network exposure function entity’s profile includes at least one of the one or more parameters;

receiving (1420) a register request including a second network exposure function entity’s profile from the second network exposure function entity, wherein the second network exposure function entity’s profile includes at least one of the one or more parameters; and

storing (1430) the first network exposure function entity’s profile and the second network exposure function entity’s profile.
The method according to any of claims 33-41, further comprising

receiving (1470) an update request from a network exposure function entity for modifying the network exposure function entity’s profile by adding an identifier of an application function and/or a service identifier of an application function; and

modifying (1480) the network exposure function entity’s profile by adding the identifier of an application function and/or the service identifier of an application function.
A method (1500) at a data management entity, comprising:

receiving (1510) a request for fetching at least one registered network slice information of a UE from a first network exposure function entity; and

sending (1520) a response including the at least one registered network slice information of the UE to the first network exposure function entity.
The method according to claim 43, wherein the data management entity is a unified data management (UDM) entity.
A method (1600) at an application server, comprising:

sending (1610) to a first network exposure function entity a service request including one or more parameters, wherein the one or more parameters include a service application program interface (API) name; and

receiving (1620) information of at least one second network exposure function entity from the first network exposure function entity.
The method according to claim 45, wherein the one or more parameters further includes at least one of

a user equipment (UE) identifier (ID) ,

a UE Internet protocol (IP) address,

a callback Uniform Resource Locator (URL) ,

an identifier of an application function,

a service identifier of an application function,

a data network name (DNN) ,

a network slice related identifier,

a data network access identifier (DNAI) ,

location information,

application ID,

a network exposure function entity’s sub type.
The method according to claim 46, wherein the UE ID represents a single UE or a group of UEs or any UE.
The method according to claim 47, wherein the UE ID includes one of an internal UE ID, an external UE ID, an internal group identifier, an external group identifier, and an indication that any UE is targeted.
The method according to claim 48, wherein the internal UE ID is a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) or a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI) .
The method according to any of claims 46-49, wherein the network slice related identifier is single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) .
The method according to any of claims 46-50, wherein the network exposure function entity’s sub type includes one of a central level subtype, a region level subtype, a network slice level subtype , an edge level subtype.
An apparatus (1910) at a first network exposure function entity, comprising:

a processor (1911) ; and

a memory (1912) coupled to the processor (1911) , said memory (1912) containing instructions executable by said processor (1911) , whereby said apparatus (1910) is operative to:

receive from an application server a service request including one or more parameters, wherein the one or more parameters include a service application program interface (API) name; and

determine at least one second network exposure function entity from one or more second network exposure function entities.
The apparatus according to claim 52, wherein the apparatus is further operative to perform the method of any one of claims 2 to 20.
An apparatus (1920) at a second network exposure function entity, comprising:

a processor (1921) ; and

a memory (1922) coupled to the processor (1921) , said memory (1922) containing instructions executable by said processor (1921) , whereby said apparatus (1920) is operative to:

receive from a first network exposure function entity a service request of an application server including one or more parameters; and

processing the service request,

wherein the one or more parameters include a service application program interface (API) name and the second network exposure function entity is determined by the first network exposure function entity as a target network exposure function entity to serving the service request from one or more second network exposure function entities.
The apparatus according to claim 54, wherein the apparatus is further operative to perform the method of any one of claims 22 to 32.
An apparatus (1930) at a network repository function entity, comprising:

a processor (1931) ; and

a memory (1932) coupled to the processor (1931) , said memory (1932) containing instructions executable by said processor (1931) , whereby said apparatus (1930) is operative to:

receive a network exposure function entity discovery request including one or more parameters including a service application program interface (API) name from a first network exposure function entity

determine one or more second network exposure function entities second network exposure function entity; and

send a network exposure function entity discovery response including the one or more second network exposure entities to the first network exposure function entity.
The apparatus according to claim 56, wherein the apparatus is further operative to perform the method of any one of claims 34 to 42.
An apparatus (1940) at a data management entity, comprising:

a processor (1941) ; and

a memory (1942) coupled to the processor (1941) , said memory (1942) containing instructions executable by said processor (1941) , whereby said apparatus (1940) is operative to:

receive a request for fetching at least one registered network slice information of a UE from a first network exposure function entity; and

send a response including the at least one registered network slice information of the UE to the first network exposure function entity.
The apparatus according to claim 58, wherein the data management entity is a unified data management (UDM) entity.
A apparatus (1950) at an application server, comprising:

a processor (1951) ; and

a memory (1952) coupled to the processor (1951) , said memory (1952) containing instructions executable by said processor (1951) , whereby said apparatus (1950) is operative to:

send to a first network exposure function entity a service request including one or more parameters, wherein the one or more parameters include a service application program interface (API) name; and

receive information of at least one second network exposure function entity from the first network exposure function entity.
The apparatus according to claim 60, wherein the apparatus is further operative to perform the method of any one of claims 46 to 51.
A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 51.
A computer program product comprising instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to any of claims 1 to 51.