Packet Data Session Management as a Service

Service-oriented fifth generation (5G) core network is designed with the aim to support the diverse requirements of different use cases. Core network functions are defined as services accessible through Application Programming Interfaces. In this paper, we propose an approach to design radio access network (RAN) functions as services based on the functions of Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP). The focus is on Packet Data Session Management procedures, where the management of session resources is exposed as a service. The Representational State Transfer (REST) style is followed. Service implementation is considered in terms of modeling the packet data session resource state as seen by the core network and RAN node. The models are formally described and it is proved that they expose equivalent behavior. The major advantage of the proposed approach among the others is that one can run many instances of services for given RAN function and thus to obtain scalability and availability.