| CPC H04L 67/51 (2022.05) | 18 Claims |
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1. An apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
maintain a network profile for each network function of a plurality of network functions including at least a first network function and a second network function, the plurality of network profiles comprising a network profile for the second network function comprising an indication of a service of the second network function and an attribute of the second network function;
receive, from the first network function, a first request for discovery of at least one network function having an associated network profile that fulfils a set of search criteria;
determine at least one candidate network function including the second network function, based on the set of search criteria and the plurality of network profiles;
alter a value of the attribute of the network profile for the second network function; and
send, in a discovery response to the first network function, at least one candidate network function identifier comprising an identifier for the second network function, in addition to said altered value of the attribute of the network profile for the second network function, based on the first request,
wherein
the identifier for the second network function comprises a uniform resource identifier to acquire the network profile for the second network function from the apparatus,
the value of the attribute of the network profile for the second network function corresponds to a priority value,
the altered value corresponds to an altered priority value, and
the priority value corresponds to a value representing a priority of a network function instance of the second network function.
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