US 12,231,432 B2
Selection of service-providing network functions in a 3GPP communication network
Pablo Martinez De La Cruz, Madrid (ES); Francisco Javier Garcia Garcia, Madrid (ES); Jesus Angel De Gregorio Rodriguez, Madrid (ES); and Maria Esther Bas Sanchez, Madrid (ES)
Assigned to Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ), Stockholm (SE)
Appl. No. 17/798,533
Filed by Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ), Stockholm (SE)
PCT Filed Jan. 21, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/051327
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 9, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/160403, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 19, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 20382095 (EP), filed on Feb. 12, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0083529 A1, Mar. 16, 2023
Int. Cl. G06F 21/00 (2013.01); H04L 9/40 (2022.01)
CPC H04L 63/102 (2013.01) 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for enabling selection of service-providing Network Functions (NFs) in a 3GPP communication network, the method being performed by a Network Repository Function (NRF), the method comprising:
obtaining one register request from each of the service-providing NFs, wherein each registration request comprises an NF profile, and wherein each NF profile comprises a security setting attribute;
storing the NF profiles of the service-providing NFs;
obtaining a discovery request from a service-requesting NF, the request indicating an NF type, wherein the discovery request comprises information of security setting attribute support at the service-requesting NF, and wherein only those NF profiles of which the security setting attribute matches the information of security setting attribute support are comprised in the discovery response; and
providing a discovery response to the service-requesting NF, wherein the discovery response comprises the NF profile of at least one of the service-providing NFs of the NF type, thereby enabling selection of the service-providing NFs.