1. Cloud Native Core Release Notes
  2. Feature Descriptions

2 Feature Descriptions

This chapter provides a summary of new features and updates to the existing features for network functions released in Cloud Native Core release 2.23.2.

2.1 Automated Testing Suite (ATS) Framework

Release 23.2.0

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Automated Test Suite (ATS) framework 23.2.0 has been updated with the following enhancement:

  • ATS Tagging Support: This feature allows you to run the feature files after filtering features and scenarios based on tags. For more information, see "ATS Tagging Support" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Automated Testing Suite Guide.

2.2 Binding Support Function (BSF)

Release 23.2.4

No new features or feature enhancements have been introduced in this release.

Release 23.2.3

No new features or feature enhancements have been introduced in this release.

Release 23.2.2

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Binding Support Function (BSF) 23.2.2 has been updated with the following enhancement:
  • Enhancements to Audit Configurations: Audit Service configurations in BSF is enhanced with addition of a new parameter "Minimum Audit Attempts" to BSF Management Service and options to configure Audit Service as well as Audit Schedule Data using CNC Console. These enhanced configurations resolve the issues related to identification and deletion of stale records by Audit Service. For more information, see "Configuring Binding Support Function" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Binding Support Function User Guide.

Release 23.2.1

No new features or feature enhancements have been introduced in this release.

Release 23.2.0

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Binding Support Function (BSF) 23.2.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • Monitoring Availability of SCPs using SCP Health Check APIs: BSF supports determining the availability and reachability status of all SCPs irrespective of the configuration types. It periodically determines the status of all SCPs. This monitoring is done at Egress Gateway microservice to ensure that the traffic is routed directly to the healthy peers. This enhancement avoids routing or rerouting towards unhealthy peers minimizing the latency time. For more information about the feature, see "Monitoring the Availability of SCP using HTTP2 OPTIONS" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Binding Support Function User Guide.
  • Supports 3gpp-Sbi-Correlation-Info Header: BSF as a service consumer or as a service producer supports the forwarding or generation of 3gpp-Sbi-Correlation-Info header with UE identifier. This feature enables BSF to identify the UE related to the HTTP request or response of a specific subscriber. For more information about the feature, see "Supports 3gpp-Sbi-Correlation-Info Header" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Binding Support Function User Guide.

2.3 Continuous Delivery Control Server (CDCS)

Oracle Communications CD Control Server (CDCS) 23.2.x has been updated with the following enhancements:

Release 23.2.2

Oracle Communications CD Control Server (CDCS) 23.2.2 has been updated with the following enhancements:

  • Support for Oracle Linux updates: CDCS allows to update the base Oracle Linux version for CDCS VMs and the host OS (when CDCS is installed on a BareMetal server) with the latest version. For more information about the Oracle Linux version, see the Oracle Communications CD Control Server Installation and Upgrade Guide.
  • Support for CNE releases: CDCS supports the installation and upgrade of CNE releases 22.4.x, 23.1.x, and 23.2.x. A specific release can be installed by selecting the supported release versions while running the Install OCCNE and Upgrade OCCNE commands. For more information about selecting the versions, see the "Managing CNE" section in Oracle Communications CD Control Server User Guide.

For more detailed information about the features released in CDCS 23.2.2, see Oracle Communications CD Control Server User Guide.

Release 23.2.1

Oracle Communications CD Control Server (CDCS) 23.2.1 has been updated with the following enhancements:

  • Support for Oracle Linux updates: CDCS allows to update the base Oracle Linux version for CDCS VMs and the host OS (when CDCS is installed on a BareMetal server) with the latest version. For more information about the Oracle Linux version, see the Oracle Communications CD Control Server Installation and Upgrade Guide.
  • Support for CNE releases: CDCS supports the installation and upgrade of CNE releases 22.4.x, 23.1.x, and 23.2.x. A specific release can be installed by selecting the supported release versions while running the Install OCCNE and Upgrade OCCNE commands. For more information about selecting the versions, see the "Managing CNE" section in Oracle Communications CD Control Server User Guide.

For more detailed information about the features released in CDCS 23.2.1, see Oracle Communications CD Control Server User Guide.

Release 23.2.0

Oracle Communications CD Control Server (CDCS) 23.2.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:

  • Supports Active and Standby CDCS Pair: CDCS adds the ability to configure CDCS instances as Active and Standby pairs. When two CDCS instances are configured one in an active configuration and another in a Standby configuration, it ensures that lifecycle automation can be performed at all managed sites at any time. Configure Mate CDCS command is used to configure an Active and Standby CDCS pair. For more information about configuring Active and Standby pairs, see the "Configuring an Active and Standby CDCS Pair" section in Oracle Communications CD Control Server User Guide.
  • NF Configuration Change: CDCS adds the ability to change the deployment configuration of an installed NF without upgrading the underlying software. NF Config Change command is used to change the configuration of an installed NF. For more information about NF configuration change, see the "Changing NF Configuration" section in Oracle Communications CD Control Server User Guide.
  • CDCS Enhancements:
    • Supports installation and upgrade for CNE releases from 22.4.2, 23.1.x, and 23.2.0. The supported release versions are displayed as an option when running the Upgrade OCCNE, Create New Production Site, and Create New Staging Site commands.
    • Supports an option to specify a custom timeout that is added to the Rollback NF Upgrade command. In case, if your NF requires a longer timeout when rolling back a release, this field must be changed from the default five minutes to the value as recommended by the NF. This is applicable for releases 22.4.2, 23.1.x, and 23.2.0.

      For more detailed information about the features released in CDCS 23.2.0, see Oracle Communications CD Control Server User Guide.

2.4 Cloud Native Configuration Console (CNC Console)

Release 23.2.2

There are no new features or feature enhancements in this release.

Release 23.2.1

There are no new features or feature enhancements in this release.

Release 23.2.0

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Configuration Console (CNC Console) 23.2.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • Remove Database Dependency from Agent CNC Console: CNC Console has removed database dependency from Agent CNC Console (A-CNCC) to reduce resource requirements. This is achieved by eliminating the dependency on the cmservice, which in turn eliminates the dependency on the database. This has led to the elimination of cnDBTier profile2 and a reduction in resource usage by the Console. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Configuration Console Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.
  • Adapt the NF Controlled Shutdown GUI for all NFs: New Console GUI screen templates have been added to enable NFs to render NF scoring data. This data helps operators to identify the NF instances that are causing NF failure in the GR setup and shutdown those instances till the issue is resolved. The screen templates can be used by NFs to develop backend APIs and use this functionality.
  • Configure Kubernetes Network Policies: CNC Console has implemented the Network policies framework to enable the user to specify how a pod communicates with network entities. It enables Console to create pod-level rules needed for CNC Console data flows, to manage Ingress and Egress traffic, and allow traffic between CNC Console pods. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Configuration Console Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.
  • NF Versions Supported by CNC Console: The following NF versions are supported in this release:
    • SCP - 23.2.x
    • NRF - 23.2.x
    • UDR - 23.2.x
    • POLICY - 23.1.x
    • BSF - 23.1.x
    • SEPP - 23.2.x
    • NSSF - 23.2.x
    • DD - 23.2.x
    • NWDAF - 23.2.x
    • PROVGW - 23.2.x

2.5 Cloud Native Core cnDBTier

Release 23.2.5

There are no new features or feature enhancements in this release.

Release 23.2.4

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, cnDBTier (cnDBTier) 23.2.4 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • dbtrecover Support for Georeplication Recovery Between Different cnDBTier Versions: With this feature, the dbtrecover script supports georeplication recovery between sites that are running on different cnDBTier versions. For more information about this feature, see the "Recovering Georeplication Sites Using dbtrecover" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, cnDBTier Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.

    Consideration:

    Consider the following conditions before using the dbtrecover script for performing a georeplication recovery between sites running on different cnDBTier versions:
    • The script supports georeplication recovery between sites only in the following cases:
      • The good site and the bad site (the site to be recovered) run the same cnDBTier version.
      • The good site runs on a lower cnDBTier version. However, the cnDBTier release on both the good site and the bad site supports the same database replication REST API.
    • The script doesn't support georeplication recovery between sites in the following cases:
      • The good site runs on a cnDBTier version that is higher than the version on the bad site.
      • The good site runs on a lower cnDBTier version and uses a different database replication REST API from the one used by the bad site.
    • The following cnDBTier versions use the old database replication API:
      • cnDBTier versions below 22.4.2
      • cnDBTier version 23.1.0
    • The following cnDBTier versions use the new database replication API:
      • cnDBTier versions greater than or equal to 22.4.2 and less than 23.1.0
      • cnDBTier version greater than or equal 23.1.1
  • TLS Support for Georeplication: TLS feature is disabled by default in this release.

Release 23.2.3

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, cnDBTier (cnDBTier) 23.2.3 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • TLS Support for Georeplication: With this feature, cnDBTier automates the process of configuring TLS for georeplication between cnDBTier sites. On enabling this feature, the replication SQL pod uses the certificates provided or configured to establish an encrypted connection for georeplication. This ensures that the replication data transfer is secure. For more information about this feature, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, cnDBTier User Guide and Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, cnDBTier Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.

    Considerations: If you are enabling TLS for the replication channels in this release, be informed about the following conditions:

    • You can't rollback from 23.2.3 to previous releases.
    • You can't upgrade from 23.2.3 to 23.3.x or 23.4.x. However, cnDBTier plans to resolve this upgrade restriction in a future release.
    • You can't scale the nodes or replication channels.
    • You can't add or remove replication channels.

Release 23.2.2

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, cnDBTier (cnDBTier) 23.2.2 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • Support for New Version of Spring Boot: Spring Boot is upgraded to 2.7.15 in this release.

Release 23.2.1

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, cnDBTier (cnDBTier) 23.2.1 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • MySQL Support for Multi Threaded Applier (MTA) Feature: The MTA feature is disabled by default in this release due to certain issues in the feature.

Release 23.2.0

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, cnDBTier 23.2.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • Database Backup Encryption and Secure Transfer: cnDBTier backups contain sensitive subscriber data. These backups are transferred to remote servers and sites for performing fault recovery. With this release, cnDBTier provides an option to encrypt and decrypt the on-demand or periodic backups at the cluster level. Additionally, cnDBTier provides the functionality to securely transfer the backups stored in the data nodes to remote sites using Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). For more information on this feature, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, cnDBTier User Guide.
  • Replacing SQL Commands in cnDBTier Procedures with REST APIs (Extension): In the previous release, cnDBTier replaced SQL commands in cnDBTier procedures with REST APIs. In this release, cnDBTier has additionally introduced the following REST APIs to replace SQL commands in cnDBTier procedures. This restricts the access to MySQL credentials and avoids the manual errors of breaking the replication between other remote sites.
    • REST API to retrieve cnDBTier and NDB version.
    • REST API to retrieve the real time status of cnDBTier replication service.
    • REST API to retrieve the number of databases, tables, and row count of each table in cnDBTier.

    For more information about these REST APIs, see the "cnDBTier APIs" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, cnDBTier User Guide.

  • PVC Health Monitoring: Before implementing this feature, to identify any PVC issues, you must wait for the MySQL Cluster processes to log an error. With this feature, cnDBTier provides options to monitor the health of PVCs that are mounted on cnDBTier pods. For more information about this feature, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, cnDBTier User Guide.
  • MySQL Support for Multi Threaded Applier (MTA) Feature: This feature provides the functionality to run independent binlog transactions parallelly at a replica, thereby increasing the peak replication throughput. MySQL 8.0.33 supports the MTA feature. As cnDBTier 23.2.0 comes with MySQL 8.0.33, NDB replication is modified to support the use of generic MySQL Server MTA mechanism. This feature is a code level enhancement in NDB which is enabled by default. It can be disabled from cnDBTier through additional configuration. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, cnDBTier Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.
  • Support to Enable Query Log on SQL Pods: With this release, cnDBTier provides support to enable query logging on selected SQL pods to trace SQL activities. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, cnDBTier Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.
  • Recovery Script for Database Resync: Starting with this release, cnDBTier provides the dbtrecover recovery script as part of the CSAR package to perform DB resync in georeplication clusters.
  • Support to Kyverno Policies: Kubernetes 1.25.x has discontinued the support for Pod Security Policy (PSP). As CNE 23.2.x comes with Kubernetes 1.25.x, it provides Kyverno as a replacement for PSP. Therefore, with this release, cnDBTier supports Kyverno policies. For more information, see the "Creating Namespace" and "Upgrading cnDBTier" sections in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, cnDBTier Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.
  • Support for New Version of MySQL Cluster Software: The Oracle MySQL Cluster Database software is upgraded to 8.0.33 in this release.
  • MySQL Support for Multi Threaded Applier (MTA) Feature: This feature implementation has certain issues and has to be manually disabled before an installation or upgrade. Therefore, before performing an installation or upgrade, ensure that you follow the updated installation or upgrade procedure in 23.3.0 Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, cnDBTier Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide to disable the MTA feature .

2.6 Cloud Native Environment (CNE)

Note:

The procedure to update OpenStack credentials is revised in the 23.2.6 User Guide. If you are updating OpenStack credentials on other versions of 23.2.x, refer to the latest procedure from 23.2.6 Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Cloud Native Environment User Guide.

Release 23.2.6

There are no new features or feature enhancements in this release.

Release 23.2.5

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Cloud Native Environment (CNE) 23.2.5 has been updated with the following enhancements:

Note:

The following feature was introduced in 23.2.4 which is an installation-only patch. Therefore, if you are upgrading to 23.2.5, be informed about the following feature that is already in place.
  • New Versions of Common Services: The following OpenSearch services are upgraded in 23.2.4:
    • Oracle OpenSearch - 2.3.0
    • Oracle OpenSearch Dashboard - 2.3.0
    • Fluentd OpenSearch - 1.16
    These upgrades provide number of new features offered by OpenSearch. For example, Fluent Bit is replaced with Fluentd OpenSearch. That is, log forwarding mechanism is changed from fluent-bit to fluentd-openSearch. The other changes in the OpenSearch stack are as follows:
    • There are five OpenSearch data nodes created by default.
    • Upgrade from 23.1.x to 23.2.5 has Elastic Search to store old index data and OpenSearch to ingest new data.
    • Elastic Search and Kibana are removed when upgrading from 23.1.x to 23.2.x.
    • Upgrade from 23.2.1 and 23.2.3 requires OpenSearch Dashboard filters to be updated in saved queries.

    OpenSearch and Fluentd Performance Considerations: OpenSearch and Fluentd are used for log ingestion. The performance of these services depends on the rate at which log forwarding happens, rate of ingestion, and log retention periods. It is advised to collect the aforementioned metrics from different components that are running in CNE cluster and ingesting logs to OpenSearch. The resources requirements of OpenSearch differs according to the collection of these metrics.

    To get the complete list of third party services and their versions, refer to the dependencies_23.2.5.tgz file provided as part of the software delivery package.

Release 23.2.4

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Cloud Native Environment (CNE) 23.2.4 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • New Versions of Common Services: The following OpenSearch services are upgraded in this release:
    • Oracle OpenSearch - 2.3.0
    • Oracle OpenSearch Dashboard - 2.3.0
    • Fluentd OpenSearch - 1.16

    These upgrades provide number of new features offered by OpenSearch. For example, Fluent Bit is replaced with Fluentd OpenSearch. That is, log forwarding mechanism is changed from fluent-bit to fluentd-openSearch. Additionally, the system creates five OpenSearch data nodes by default.

    OpenSearch and Fluentd Performance Considerations: OpenSearch and Fluentd are used for log ingestion. The performance of these services depends on the rate at which log forwarding happens, rate of ingestion, and log retention periods. It is advised to collect the aforementioned metrics from different components that are running in CNE cluster and ingesting logs to OpenSearch. The resources requirements of OpenSearch differs according to the collection of these metrics.

    To get the complete list of third party services and their versions, refer to the dependencies_23.2.4.tgz file provided as part of the software delivery package.

Release 23.2.3

There are no new features or feature enhancements in this release.

Release 23.2.1

There are no new features or feature enhancements in this release.

Release 23.2.0

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Cloud Native Environment (CNE) 23.2.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • Automated Addition and Removal of Worker Node for Bare Metal: With this release, CNE provides automated procedures to add a new worker node to a Bare Metal deployment and remove a worker node from a Bare Metal deployment. These procedures also provide persistent logging functionality. For more information about these procedures, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Cloud Native Environment User Guide.
  • Local DNS: Local DNS allows the pods and services running inside the CNE cluster to connect with the ones running outside the CNE cluster using core DNS. That is, when Local DNS is enabled, CNE routes the connection to external hosts through core DNS rather than the nameservers on the Bastion Hosts. This feature enables the following capabilities:
    • It allows you to add entries directly to the CNE DNS subsystem and remove the entries when required. These entries can be used to identify and locate NFs located outside the CNE cluster.
    • It allows you to disable access to DNS nameservers outside the CNE cluster.

    For information about this feature, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Cloud Native Core User Guide.

  • End of Life for PSP: Kubernetes 1.25.x has discontinued the support for Pod Security Policies (PSP). As CNE 23.2.0 comes with Kubernetes 1.25.x, CNE doesn't support PSP. CNE has adopted a new framework Kyverno in place of PSP. Kyverno provides security policies for CNE clusters and all PSP-based access or security policies are upgraded with Kyverno. For more information on this framework, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Cloud Native Environment User Guide and Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Cloud Native Environment Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.
  • New Versions of Common Services: The following common services are upgraded in this release:
    • Helm - 3.10.3
    • Kubernetes - 1.25.6
    • containerd - 1.6.15
    • Calico - 3.23.3
    • MetalLB - 0.13.7
    • Prometheus - 2.39.1
    • Grafana - 9.1.7
    • Jaeger - 1.39.0
    • Istio - 1.15.3
    • Kyverno - 1.9.0
    • cert-manager - 1.10.0

    You can find the complete list of third party services and their versions in the dependencies_23.2.0.tgz file provided as part of the software delivery package.

Operations Services Overlay (OSO)

Oracle Communications Operations Services Overlay (OSO) 23.2.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:

New Versions of Services: The following services are upgraded in this release:
  • NGINX ingress controller - 1.5.1
  • Alert Manager - 0.25.0

For more information about these uplifts, see Oracle Communications Operations Services Overlay Installation and Upgrade Guide.

2.7 Network Exposure Function (NEF)

Release 23.2.1

No new features or feature enhancements have been introduced in this release.

Release 23.2.0

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Exposure Function (NEF) 23.2.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:

The following three functionalities are achieved by utilizing the 3GPP-defined monitoring events based on the monitoring type. The detection of these events relies on the event reporting parameters received in the monitoring event subscription request:

  • Support for PDU Session Status Event: This feature enables NEF to deliver PDU Session status information to AFs. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Exposure Function User Guide and Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Exposure Function Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.
  • Support for UE Reachability Event: This feature enables NEF to deliver UE Reachability information to AFs. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Exposure Function User Guide and Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Exposure Function Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.
  • Support for Loss of Connectivity Event: This feature enables NEF to deliver Loss of Connectivity information to AFs. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Exposure Function User Guide and Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Exposure Function Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.

2.8 Network Repository Function (NRF)

Release 23.2.3

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Repository Functions (NRF) 23.2.3 has been updated with the following enhancement:
  • Supports Service Level Priority with same Service Names: The Preferred Locality Priority Handling has been enhanced to support service level priority with same service names. For service-name based discovery query, NRF updates the profile level priority and service level priority of the NF profile if there are multiple services in the NF profile with same service name after processing the discovery query.

    For more information about the feature, see "Extended Preferred Locality Priority Handling" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Repository Function User Guide.

Release 23.2.2

There are no new features or feature enhancements in this release.

Release 23.2.1

There are no new features or feature enhancements in this release.

Release 23.2.0

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Repository Functions (NRF) 23.2.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • User-Agent Header for Outgoing Requests: NRF supports the addition of User-Agent header for outgoing messages such as NFStatusNotify and SLF query requests. If the User-Agent header value is configured, then NRF adds the User-Agent header with the configured value to the mentioned outgoing messages. For more information about the feature, see "User-Agent Header for Outgoing Requests" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Repository Function User Guide.
  • Network Slice Specific Metrics: NRF allows to measure the number of requests and responses for various service operation per network slice. These slices are identified by Network Slice Instances (NSIs) and Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (SNSSAI). This measurement is performed using the metrics. For more information about the feature, see "Network Slice Specific Metrics" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Repository Function User Guide.
  • Kubernetes Tolerations: NRF allows to configure tolerations. The tolerations allow scheduling the pods onto nodes with matching taints but do not guarantee scheduling. When a taint is assigned by Kubernetes configurations, it repels all the pods except those that have a matching toleration for that taint. For more information about the feature, see "Tolerations" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Repository Function User Guide.
  • Enhancement for Auditing the Availability of NRF Tables: NRF detects any inconsistency in the system at an early stage of upgrade and reports the same based on the NRF tables validation. The validations are done during the preupgrade and postupgrade. For more information about the feature, see "Audit NRF Database Tables" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Repository Function User Guide.
  • Controlled Shutdown of NRF: NRF supports isolating an NRF from the current network at a particular site. This isolation helps to perform any maintenance activities or recovery procedures as required without uninstalling the NRF at the particular site. For more information about the feature, see "Controlled Shutdown of NRF" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Repository Function User Guide.
  • Monitoring Availability of SCPs using SCP Health Check APIs: NRF supports determining the availability and reachability status of all SCPs irrespective of the configuration types. It periodically determines the status of all SCPs. This monitoring is done at Egress Gateway microservice to ensure that the traffic is routed directly to the healthy peers. This enhancement avoids routing or rerouting towards unhealthy peers minimizing the latency time. For more information about the feature, see "Monitoring the Availability of SCP using HTTP2 OPTIONS" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Repository Function User Guide.
  • CCA Header validation in NRF for Access Token Service Operation: The Client credentials assertion (CCA) is a token signed by the Consumer NF. It enables NRF to authenticate the Consumer NF which includes the signed token in Access Token service request. CCA header contains the Consumer NF's NfInstanceId that gets checked against the certificate by the NRF. The CCA also includes a timestamp as the basis for the restriction of its lifetime. For more information about the feature, see "CCA Header validation in NRF for Access Token Service Operation" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Repository Function User Guide.
  • Aspen Service Mesh with New Resources: NRF supports additional two new resources in ASM Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs), Request Authentication and Policy Authorization. Also, Support for additional new attributes is added to existing ASM CRDs. For more information about the feature, see "Configuring NRF to Support ASM" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Repository Function Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.
  • Enhancement of NRF Fault Recovery on Recovering NRF from Old Backup: NRF supports fault recovery using the old backup taken from NRF. For more information about the feature, see "Fault Recovery" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Repository Function Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.

2.9 Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF)

Release 23.2.0

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) 23.2.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • Monitoring the Availability of SCPs using SCP Health APIs: With this feature, NSSF determines the availability and reachability status of all SCPs irrespective of the configuration types. This feature is an enhancement to the existing SBI routing functionality. Egress Gateway microservice interacts with SCP on their health API endpoints using the HTTP2 OPTIONS method. It monitors the health of configured SCP peers to ensure that the traffic is routed directly to the healthy peers. This enhancement avoids routing or rerouting towards unhealthy peers, thus minimizing the latency time. For more information about the feature, see "Monitoring the Availability of SCPs using SCP Health APIs" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Slice Selection Function User Guide.
  • Validation of WWW-Authenticate Response Header 4xx with NSSF: When access-token validation is enabled, NSSF performs access-token validation of the access-token that comes with service requests to it. With this enhancement, NSSF has added supports 3GPP specified 4XX application error codes for these access token checks. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Slice Selection Function User Guide.
  • Deleting Subscription on 404 SUBSCRIPITON_NOT_FOUND Response from AMF: On setting the deleteOnSubscriptionNotFound parameter as true in the custom_values.yaml file, NSSF automatically deletes subscriptions upon receiving a 404 SUBSCRIPTION_NOT_FOUND response from AMF for a subscription notification. However, by setting deleteOnSubscriptionNotFound to false, NSSF retains the subscription even after encountering the 404 SUBSCRIPITON_NOT_FOUND response. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Network Slice Selection Function User Guide.

2.10 Policy

Release 23.2.8

No new features or feature enhancements have been introduced in this release.

Release 23.2.7

No new features or feature enhancements have been introduced in this release.

Release 23.2.6

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy 23.2.6 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • Session Retry Enhancement at Egress Gateway: With this enhancement, the sbiroutingerrorcriteriasets parameter has been enhanced to include the error cause. As a result, when Egress Gateway receives HTTP error response based on the matching errorcriteria, there is a retry of failed request through an alternate SCP based on the defined erroractionset. For more information, see Support for Session Retry and Alternate Route Service section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • Support for Binding Header and Routing Binding Header in N1N2Transfer: This feature enables the user to configure binding header, routing binding header, and the discovery header for N1N2Transfer requests. For more details, see "Support for 3GPP NF Sets and Binding Headers" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • PDS Handling Subscription Failure from UDR: This feature adds advanced settings keys in PDS Settings page on CNC Console. In case of UDR subscription failure with subscribeToNotify flag enabled, the user can configure these newly added keys to enable PCF to reattempt sending the subscription request toward UDR service on next SM update. For more details, see "Support for Query on Update and Subscription to UDR" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.

Release 23.2.5

No new features or feature enhancements have been introduced in this release.

Release 23.2.4

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy 23.2.4 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • PCF to include Service Name in Binding Header towards UDR, CHF, BSF, and AMF: PCF as a consumer sends binding headers to producer NFs such as UDR, CHF, BSF, and AMF during explicit or implicit subscription. When Send PCF Service Name in Binding Header parameter is enabled, the binding header includes servname along with other details such as nfinst and nfset. When a notification request from UDR, CHF, BSF, or AMF to PCF fails, the producer NFs can use the servname in the binding header to select an alternate PCF. For more information, see "Support for 3GPP NF Sets and Binding Headers" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • IPv6 enablement in Policy: Two new parameters, global.isIpvSixSetup and diam-gateway.envSupportedIpAddressType have been added to enable and configure IPv6 in Policy.For more information, see "Configuration Parameters for IPv6" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.
  • Binding Stale Session Cleanup: Policy enables Binding service to trigger remote or local stale session clean up request towards SM service when the number of SM sessions per DNN exceeds the configured Max sessions per DNN value. The binding flag Max Session Cleanup Mode used by the Binding service controls the deletion of stale binding sessions. For more information, see "Binding Service" feature section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.

Release 23.2.2

No new features or feature enhancements have been introduced in this release.

Release 23.2.1

No new features or feature enhancements have been introduced in this release.

Release 23.2.0

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy 23.2.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • Adding Subscription-ID AVPs to STR Messages: As part of the Final Spending Limit Report Request (SLR) procedure, PCRF sends a Session Termination Request (STR) to Online Charging System (OCS) through PDS and Diam-Connector to unsubscribe from all the Policy Counters belonging to the Diameter session and terminate the session. Adding Subscription-ID AVPs allow OCS to associate the STR with the SLR and close the session. For more information, see "Adding Subscription-ID AVPs to STR messages" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • Support for Subscriber Notification Using SMPP: Policy supports sending subscriber notification (SMS alerts regarding Quota management or usage reporting and activation/deactivation of services) to subscribers through SMPP (Short Message Peer-to-Peer) protocol. This feature enables transfer of short messages between External Short Message Entities (ESME) and Message Centres (MC). For more information, see "Support for Subscriber Notification Using SMPP" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • Support for Query on Update and Subscription to UDR: Policy supports querying the UDR for user data when a Policy Service (SM Service, AM Service, or UE Policy Service) receives an update request. This feature enables sending the GET request along with POST Subscribe to UDR when processing an Update request with queryOnUpdate and subscribeToNotify flags enabled. For more information, see "Support for Query on Update and Subscription to UDR" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • Support for Auto Enrolment of Subscribers: Policy supports auto-provisioning of the subscribers at UDR by applying dynamic quota when the subscriber profile is not present in UDR. For more information, see "Support for AutoEnrolment of Subscribers" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • Support for Presence Reporting Area: PCF supports the Presence Reporting Area (PRA) functionality to comply with the 3GPP standards. Policy supports PRA functionality for SM Service, AM Service, and UE Policy Service. For more information, see "Support for Presence Reporting Area" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • Handling Install and Remove Conflict for Same Rule: In certain policies, install/update and remove actions are applied for the same rule - which can be either a session rule or a PCC rule. This feature resolves conflicts between INSTALL and REMOVE actions on the same PCC/Session Rules when the remove action is Remove ALL (ALL, Predefined, Dynamic, Conditioned, non-conditioned) in the policy project. The feature uses Install/Remove Rule Conflicts Strategy parameter under PCF Session Management service configurations to resolve the conflict. For more information, see "Handling Install and Remove Conflict for Same Rule" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • Usage Monitoring on Gx Interface:

    Cloud Native 4G Policy implements Usage Monitoring or Quota Management using the combination of PCRF Core and Usage Monitoring. These two microservices have their respective policy engines and thus separate policy projects. Each of the two microservices (along with their respective policies) has the following functions with respect to Quota Management:

    • PCRF Core - Controls PCC and/or Session Rules and Charging Description
    • Usage Monitoring - Controls the Quota Selection, Accumulation and Grant

    For more information, see "Usage Monitoring on Gx Interface" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.

  • Monitoring Availability of SCPs using SCP Health Check APIs: PCF delivers UE policy to the UE in several MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND messages as fragments. Using the PCF UE blockly's UE policy is installed with fragmentation. This feature allows UE Policy installation with fragmentation, by providing URSP data type and URSP List data type: as a column in the policy table. For more information about the feature, see "UE Policy Improvements" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • Remote State Subscriber Variable: Subscriber State variables hold the intermediate state of the policy evaluation. The state variables are defined by the policy writer that can be set within a policy action to be used at a later time during policy rule execution. The remote subscriber state variable persists in UDR. The PCF interfaces with User Data Repository (UDR) to receive subscriber-related Policies for User Equipment(UE). PCF communicates with UDR to receive these attributes which are used in the evaluation of Policies. For more information about the feature, see "Subscriber State Variables in Policy" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • Support for Diameter Error Codes: Policy supports diameter error codes for RX and BSF. For more information about the feature, see "Diameter Error Codes" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • Error Mapping for CHF Interface: Policy supports handling of the errors received from CHF interface as well as errors to be responded to CHF notification. For more information about the feature, see "HTTP Error Codes" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • Error Mapping for UDR Interface: Policy supports handling of the errors received from CHF interface as well as errors to be responded to UDR notification. For more information about the feature, see "HTTP Error Codes" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • Error Mapping for AM Interface: Policy supports error cause along with HTTP error codes while sending an error to the AM interface. It also supports handling of errors received for notification. For more information about the feature, see "HTTP Error Codes" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • Error Mapping for SM Interface: Policy supports error cause along with HTTP error codes while sending an error to the SM interface. It also supports handling of errors received for notification. For more information about the feature, see "HTTP Error Codes" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • Error Mapping for UE Interface: Policy supports error cause along with HTTP error codes while sending an error to the AM interface for UE Policy. It also supports handling of errors received for notification. For more information about the feature, see "HTTP Error Codes" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • Error Mapping for NRF Interface: Policy supports handling of the errors received from NRF interface as well as errors to be responded to NRF notification. For more information about the feature, see "HTTP Error Codes" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.
  • Support for Data Compression: Policy supports data compression to reduce the data size and hence the storage used by database. It can also be used to improve the communication latency between application and database when compression is performed at the application level. It is supported for SM, Binding, and PDS services. For more information about the feature, see "Data Compressions" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Converged Policy User Guide.

2.11 Service Communication Proxy (SCP)

Release 23.2.3

No new features or feature enhancements have been introduced in this release.

Release 23.2.2

No new features or feature enhancements have been introduced in this release.

Release 23.2.1

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Service Communication Proxy (SCP) 23.2.1 has been updated with the following enhancements:

  • Enhanced NF Status Processing: This is an enhancement to the Mode 2 routing option of SCP to consider all NFs for routing that are configured using the suspendedStateRouting REST API parameter to route the message request. For more information, see "Enhanced NF Status Processing" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Service Communication Proxy User Guide.
  • Dual Stack Support: This feature enables SCP to support deployment on Dual Stack with IPV4 preferred. For more information, see "Support for Kubernetes Resources" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Service Communication Proxy User Guide.
  • ASM Envoy Filter Configuration Enhancements: This enhancement has introduced cluster.service and type fields for Envoy Filter CRD. For more information, see "ASM Configuration" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Service Communication Proxy Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.

Release 23.2.0

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Service Communication Proxy (SCP) 23.2.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • Support for Default Notification Message Routing: This feature enables SCP to create routing rules in the callback URI of the default notification subscription to route the 5G SBI messages after learning the 5G topology from NRF through NF status notifications. For more information, see "Support for Default Notification Routing" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Service Communication Proxy User Guide.
  • Support for 5G SBI Message Correlation using the 3gpp-Sbi-Correlation-Info Header: This feature enables SCP with correlation data, such as User Equipment (UE) identity, that an operator uses in various offline network management, performance analysis, and troubleshooting tools and applications to identify the requests and responses related to a specific subscriber. For more information, see "Support for 5G SBI Message Correlation using the 3gpp-Sbi-Correlation-Info Header" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Service Communication Proxy User Guide.
  • Support for the ClientCredentials Assertion Header: This feature enables the NRF or the producer NF to authenticate the consumer NF when using indirect communication through SCP. For more information, see "Support for the ClientCredentials Assertion Header" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Service Communication Proxy User Guide.
  • Support for Network Policies: This feature enables SCP to create pod-level rules that control communication between the cluster's pods and services and determine which pods and services can access one another inside the cluster. For more information, see "Network Policies" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Service Communication Proxy User Guide.
  • SCP Health Check API: The SCP Health Check Application Programming Interface (API) feature enables consumer NFs to determine the health status of SCP by sending health query requests to SCP before forwarding any SBI message request to SCP. For more information, see "SCP Health Check API" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Service Communication Proxy User Guide.
  • Verbose Logging for SCP: This feature defines a common log format to include required information to enhance the debugging process for WARN and ERROR logs. Using this log format, ERROR and WARN level logs are modified to standardize the log format, add more details, and enhance readability. For more information, see "Verbose Logging for SCP" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Service Communication Proxy User Guide.
  • Pod Overload Control Enhancement: This enhancement enables SCP to throttle only ingress 5G SBI message requests based on Pending Transactions for which responses from producer NFs are awaited by SCP. For more information, see "Pod Overload Control" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Service Communication Proxy User Guide.
  • 5G SBI Message Failure Handling using Server Header Enhancement: The 5G SBI Message Failure Handling functionality is enhanced so that SCP forwards the last or latest error response received from producer NFs to consumer NFs, and server header content is populated with the details of the producer NF from which the error response is received. For more information, see "Enhanced 5G SBI Message Failure Handling" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Service Communication Proxy User Guide.
  • Support for OAuth2.0: This feature enables SCP to support OAuth2.0 (Open Authorization) access tokens in 5G indirect communication models such as Model C and Model D. SCP uses the access tokens received from consumer NFs and Network Repository Function (NRF) and forward Service Based Interface (SBI) message requests to the selected producer NFs. For more information, see "Support for OAuth2.0" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Service Communication Proxy User Guide.

2.12 Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP)

Release 23.2.2

No new features or feature enhancements have been introduced in this release.

Release 23.2.1

No new features or feature enhancements have been introduced in this release.

Release 23.2.0

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP) 23.2.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:

  • Support for Cat 0 - SBI Message Schema Validation: This feature supports stateless security countermeasures, which enhance the security measures of roaming partners by allowing only valid requests to be processed at SEPP. It performs checks to determine the validity of messages. This feature is designed to support the following:
    • Verifying the combination of request body and query parameters and compare it with the respective schema.
    • Routing of only valid SBI messages to egress or ingress the network.

    For more information about the feature, see the "Cat-0 SBI Message Schema Validation Feature" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Security Edge Protection Proxy User Guide, and "Cat-0 SBI Message Schema Validation" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Security Edge Protection Proxy REST API Specification Guide.

  • Support for Cat-3 Previous Location Check: The feature is part of stateful security countermeasures, verifying that only authenticated User Equipment (UE) messages originating from the same location as the UE's authentication are allowed.

    The authentication status of a specific UE is obtained from the UDR in the home network, and this information is checked for every incoming message received by the Producer SEPP (P-SEPP). If the UE is successfully authenticated based on the UDR response, the message is allowed to pass through the P-SEPP. However, if the UE is not authenticated or if the location of the incoming message does not match the location registered in the UDR during the UE authentication process, the message is rejected and an error message, configurable by the user, is displayed. This feature is exclusively available on the P-SEPP.

    For more information about the feature, see the "Cat-3 Previous Location Check Feature" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Security Edge Protection Proxy User Guide, "Cat-3 Previous Location Check" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Security Edge Protection Proxy REST API Specification Guide, and the "Configuration Parameters" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Security Edge Protection Proxy Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.

  • Supports Kubernetes Network Policies: Network Policies are an application-centric construct that allows you to specify how a pod is allowed to communicate with various network entities. To control communication between the cluster's pods and services and to determine which pods and services can access one another inside the cluster, it creates pod-level rules.

    The Kubernetes Network Policies for SEPP provides namespace-level isolation for SEPP pods. The pods deployed within the SEPP can communicate with each other directly, while any other pods, whether inside or outside the namespace, must communicate through the gateways.

    For more information about the feature, see the "Support for Network Policies" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Security Edge Protection Proxy User Guide, and "Configuring Network Policies" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Security Edge Protection Proxy Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide.

  • Running ATS Test Cases on SUT with a Parameterized Approach: 5G ATS framework is enhanced to add the capability of running Test Cases with the System Under Test (SUT) in a customer-specific production configuration. Additionally, SEPP is updated to support the parameterized architecture provided by 5G ATS. For more information about the feature, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Automated Testing Suite Guide.
  • Validate the GZIP functionality for Message Copy Feature: In previous releases, logs were not displayed in GZIP format for the Message Copy feature. With this release, Ingress and Egress Gateways support is enhanced to display the logs in the GZIP format for the Message Copy feature.

2.13 Unified Data Repository (UDR)

Release 23.2.2

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Unified Data Repository (UDR) 23.2.2 has been updated with the following enhancement:
  • Suppress Notification: This feature enables cnUDR to store the User-Agent header received in the POST request from cnPCRF in the subscription table. cnUDR compares the User-Agent header received during an update operation from cnPCRF with the stored User-Agent header, if the User-Agent header matches, then the notification is suppressed. The notification is sent if the User-Agent header does not match or if the there is no User-Agent header in the update request. For more information about the feature, see "Suppress Notification" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Unified Data Repository User Guide.

Release 23.2.1

No new features or feature enhancements have been introduced in this release.

Release 23.2.0

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Unified Data Repository (UDR) 23.2.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • NF Scoring for a Site: UDR supports the Network Function (NF) Scoring feature to calculate the site score based on NF specific factors such as alerts. The NF Scoring feature helps the operator to determine the health of a site. For more information about the feature, see "NF Scoring for a Site" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Unified Data Repository User Guide.
  • Converged Quota Support for Provisioning Interface: In this feature 5G Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) interacts with 5G UDR for both 4G and 5G data. The 5G PCRF must store the quota information under sm-data/umData and sm-data/umDataLimits. The data model is updated to support the storage of 4G policy data under sm-data/umData and sm-data/umDataLimits from VSA. For more information about the feature, see "Converged Quota Support for Provisioning Interface" section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Unified Data Repository User Guide.
  • Controlled Shutdown of an Instance Integration with CNC Console: This feature enables CNC Console support to provide the partial or complete isolation of the site from the network so that the operator can perform necessary recovery procedures. For more information about the feature, see "Controlled Shutdown of an Instance" and "Controlled Shutdown Configurations" sections in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Unified Data Repository User Guide.
  • Provision Gateway Auditor Enhancements: Provision Gateway is enhanced to support monitoring APIs of Provision Gateway auditor in SLF mode through CNC Console to show the current status of auditor process. Alerts are also added for Persistent Volume Claim (PVC) monitoring of Auditor service. For more information about the feature, see "Using Auditor Service and Auditor Service Status" in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Provisioning Gateway Guide.
  • UDR and Provision Gateway Configuration API Enhancements: UDR and Provision Gateway configuration APIs are enhanced to do a strict validation of input and modify the return codes.