1. Cloud Native Core Release Notes
  2. Feature Descriptions

2 Feature Descriptions

This chapter provides a summary of each feature released in Cloud Native release 2.3.3.

Automated Testing Suite (ATS)

ATS has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • Provides NF Specific login support - Only NF specific pipelines are visible.
  • Provides RBAC authorization.
  • Allows to deploy ATS using either Helm2 or Helm3 helm versions.
  • Enables all the NF teams with the basic environment, framework and a GUI (Jenkins) to execute all the functional test cases.

Binding Support Function (BSF)

Binding Support Function (BSF) 1.8.0 has below enhancements:
  • Turning off AccessToken signature validation: With this feature, CNC Binding Support Function has the capability to turn off AccessToken signature validation at the application layer. For instance, when service mesh, for example, Aspen Service Mesh, is integrated with BSF, the service mesh would perform the AccessToken validation. In such cases, the BSF shall skip validating AccessToken signature. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Binding Support Function Installation Guide.
  • Alerts for change in Status of BSF and the Services: New alerts are added to notify the operators on any change in BSF status and BSF services. For more information about these alerts, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Binding Support Function User's Guide. BSF_Alertrules.yaml file has also been updated as part of this feature. The BSF_Alertrules.yaml file is packaged with BSF Custom Templates. The BSF Custom Templates.zip file can be downloaded from MOS.

Cloud Native Core Console (CNC Console)

Cloud Native Core Console (CNC Console) 1.6.2 has been updated with the following enhancement:

  • CNC Console GUI support for latest version of NRF (1.11.1): CNC Console GUI is updated to support the latest version of NRF (1.11.1). For more information about this, see Oracle Communication Cloud Native Core Network Repository Function (NRF) Installation Guide and Oracle Communication Cloud Native Core Network Repository Function (NRF) User's Guide.

Cloud Native Core Console (CNC Console) 1.6.1 has been updated with the following enhancement:

  • CNC Console GUI support for latest version of SCP (1.11.0): CNC Console GUI is updated to support the latest version of SCP (1.11.0). For more information about this, see Oracle Communication Cloud Native Core Service Communication Proxy (SCP) Installation Guide and Oracle Communication Cloud Native Core Service Communication Proxy (SCP) User's Guide.

Cloud Native Core Console (CNC Console) 1.6.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:

  • CNC Console Upgrade and Rollback support: CNC Console IAM and CNC Console Core can be upgraded from the previous version to the current version using helm upgrade feature. For more information about the upgrade, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Console Installation and Upgrade Guide.
  • Consistent Logging Screen for SCP, NRF, UDR: Consistent Logging screens are supported for SCP, NRF and UDR. Policy and BSF already support Consistent Logging screens. For more information abut the Consistent Logging scree, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Console User's Guide.
  • CNC Console Metrics enhancements: This enhancement supports security (Authentication and Authorization) related Metrics, KPIs, and Alerts. For more information about metrics, KPIs, and alerts, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Console User's Guide.
  • Support latest version of NFs: CNC Console 1.11.0 is compatible with latest version of already supported NFs:
    • SCP 1.11.0
    • NRF 1.11.0
    • UDR 1.11.0
    • CNC Policy 1.11.0
    • BSF 1.8.0

Cloud Native Diameter Routing Agent (CnDRA)

There are no new features or updates implemented in CNC 2.3.3 release.

Cloud Native Environment (CNE)

Cloud Native Environment (CNE) 1.8.4 provides the following major enhancement:

For baremetal installations, Kubernetes master nodes are deployed on virtual machines. These virtual machines are created on the designated baremetal "master" servers.

Note:

The configuration of masters in the hosts.ini file is changed from previous releases. For more information about the changes in the hosts.ini file for release 1.8.4, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Environment Installation Guide.
Cloud Native Environment (CNE) 1.8.0 provides the following major features in this release:
  • CNE Sizing and Performance - Common Services: OCCNE allows the operator to perform predeployment sizing for persistent storage for metrics and logs. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Environment (OCCNE) Installation Guide and Oracle Communications Cloud Native Environment (OCCNE) Upgrade Guide.
  • Bare Metal Redesign: The new server and storage architecture is provided for baremetal deployments. The new baremetal architecture allows the cloud-native DBTier to be deployed on baremetal, and will eliminate issues affecting Prometheus and Elasticsearch during upgrade. It will also remove the special "storage servers" used by the DBTier, and replace them with an equal number of K8s worker nodes (making the minimum recommended deployment 6 worker nodes). For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Environment (OCCNE) Installation Guide and Oracle Communications Cloud Native Environment (OCCNE) Upgrade Guide.
  • Upgraded to Oracle Linux 8: Both baremetal and virtualized CNE are using Oracle Linux 8. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Environment (OCCNE) Installation Guide and Oracle Communications Cloud Native Environment (OCCNE) Upgrade Guide.
  • Cloud Native DBTier: The cloud native DB Tier (cnDbTier) is a version of the DB Tier that runs entirely within Kubernetes, and uses Kubernetes persistent storage. For more information, see DbTier Installation Guide and DBTier User Guide.
  • DBTier 3-Site Replication: This feature allows the users to replicate DBTier data to two other sites. Management of HA replication channels to both sites is automated, like in previous releases. 2-site replication is still supported as well. For more information, see DbTier Installation Guide and DBTier User Guide.

CNC NF Data Collector

There are no new features or updates implemented in CNC 2.3.3 release.

Cloud Native Core Policy (CNC Policy)

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Policy (CNC Policy) 1.11.1 has below enhancements:
  • Diameter Routing Table Configuration: The Diameter datasource configuration includes the option to add a Diameter Routing Table if diameter gateway is configured for the datasource. For information on configuring Diameter Routing Table, see the Diameter Configurations section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Policy User's Guide.

Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Policy (CNC Policy) 1.11.0 has below enhancements:

  • PCF Interface Timer Handling Enhancements - Phase2: The CNC Policy Solution now allows you to set request timeout values for PCF Session Management and PCF UE Policy services in applications/interfaces using timer profile. CNC Policy applies the specific timeout profile when sending a request to external NFs, the external NFs include UDR/CHF/NRF/BSF, and CNC Policy updates the appropriate metrics. For information on managing timer profile, see the Managing Timer Profile section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Policy User's Guide.
  • Policy Table Enhancements - Phase 1: The CNC Policy solution now allows you to modify the Key column values of a Policy Table. Also, new fields are introduced on the Policy Tables page to import, export, and clone a Policy Table. For information on managing policy tables, see the Managing Policy Tables section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Policy User's Guide.
  • Policy Import/Export Enhancements - Phase 1: With this enhancement, you can export policy table data using REST APIs. Also, this enhancement allows you to export individual policies and its dependencies using the REST APIs. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Policy REST API Guide.
  • Diameter metrics enhancements - Phase 2: With this enhancement, new Diameter Gateway Metrics have been added. For more information, see the Diameter Gateway Metrics section in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Policy User's Guide.
  • Manually Delete Session (phase II - deleting SMF, UDR, CHF): With this enhancement, CNC Policy supports for request of termination of the SM association with the SMF which triggers SMF to delete the SM association, which will result in deleting associated contexts (e.g. UDR subscription, CHF, etc.). For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Policy User's Guide.
  • Handling of Install and Remove Conflict for Same Rule: With this enhancement, when SM service receives two action types - install and remove for the same rule, SM service processes the remove action for the rule first, and then installs it. However, if install is not configured for the rule, SM service may remove it. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Policy User's Guide.
  • Alerts for change in Status of PCF and the Services: New alerts are added to notify the operators on any change in PCF status and PCF services. For more information about these alerts, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Policy User's Guide. PCF_Alertrules.yaml has also been updated as part of this feature. The PCF_Alertrules.yaml file is packaged with CNC policy Custom Templates. The CNC Policy Custom Templates.zip file can be downloaded from MOS.

Inter-Working Function (IWF)

There are no new features or updates implemented in CNC 2.3.3 release.

Service Communication Proxy (SCP)

SCP 1.11.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • Ingress Rate Limiting Support: SCP secures the network when aggregated ingress traffic from an NF instance exceeds the allowed limit. If the traffic exceeds the allowed limit, SCP does not process the traffic and responds with an error code. For more information about the feature, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Service Communication Proxy (SCP) User's Guide.
  • Egress Rate Limiting Support: The Egress Rate Limiting feature stops the producer NF instance from getting overloaded. SCP secures the network when aggregated egress traffic from any registered NF instance exceeds the allowed limit. If the traffic exceeds the allowed limit, SCP performs the alternate routing by default. In case alternate routing is not configured, SCP responds with an error code. For more information about the feature, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Service Communication Proxy (SCP) User's Guide.
  • REST APIs to support Helm based configurations changes runtime: SCP supports updating Helm configurable options after deployment using REST API parameters. For more information about the feature, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Service Communication Proxy (SCP) User's Guide.
  • NRF Preventive Audit check: SCP controls NRF failure scenarios in the network by performing the preventive audit (discovery). This audit is performed with all the configured regional NRFs before removing the last NF instance of a particular NF type. For more information about the feature, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Service Communication Proxy (SCP) User's Guide.
  • Not consider Serving Scope while calculating profile hash: SCP is optimized Audit and Notification to not consider serving scope while hash calculation. For more information about the feature, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Service Communication Proxy (SCP) Installation Guide.

Security Edge Proxy Protection (SEPP)

There are no new features or updates implemented in CNC 2.3.3 release.

Network Exposure Function (NEF)

There are no new features or updates implemented in CNC 2.3.3 release.

Network Repository Function (NRF)

OCNRF 1.11.1 has been updated with the following enhancement:
  • Enabling oAuth2 Token caching at OCNRF: OCNRF supports catching of oAuth2 token for SLF communication at OCNRF. For more information about this feature, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core NRF User's Guide.
OCNRF 1.11.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • Alerts for change in NF Status and NF Service Status at NRF: New alerts are added to notify the operators on any change in NF status and NF services. For more information about these alerts, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core NRF User's Guide.
  • Support for configurable Primary/Secondary/Tertiary Locality for Locality based Discovery response: OCNRF Extended Preferred Locality Priority Handling feature allows the operator to set priority of NF profiles in response of 3GPP defined NFDiscover service operation of NRF. For more information about Extended Preferred Locality Priority Handling feature, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core NRF User's Guide.
  • CNC Console support for configuring Key details for AccessToken: Key-ID feature allows the operator to add "kid" header in Access Token Response generated by OCNRF. OCNRF allows configuring KeyID using CNC Console. For more information about configuring KeyID, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core NRF Installation and Upgrade Guide.
  • Automation of Control Plane Configuration using Helm Chart: With this enhancement, the control plane configuration can be done at the time of OCNRF installation using helm chart. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Network Repository Functions (NRF) Installation and Upgrade Guide.
  • Support for Dynamic Logging for all micro-services using REST/CNCC: OCNRF allows the operator to change the log level of individual services dynamically (without POD restart). It also allows the operator to retrieve the current log level of all the services. This feature can be configured using REST API or CNC Console. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Network Repository Functions (NRF) User's Guide.
  • Support for Per NF Type Alert for Active Registered NFs: OCNRF allows to configure the alerts for a specific type of NF. It also allows to configure the threshold value per NF. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Network Repository Functions (NRF) User's Guide.

Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF)

OCNSSF 1.5.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:

  • Support for multiple PLMN at NSSF: This feature enables single NSSF instance to cater to multiple PLMNs. This enables operator to define slice selection policies for multiple PLMNs, and gives the option for operator to span a network slice across PLMNs. For more information about this feature, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) User's Guide.
  • Two site GR Support for NSSF : OCNSSF supports two site georedundancy to ensure service availability when one OCNSSF site is down. For more information on this feature, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) User's Guide.

  • Integrated Debug tool: Debug tool provides third-party troubleshooting tools, for debugging the runtime issues for lab and production environment. Debug Tool is integrated with different command line and diagnostic tools, such as:

    • Netstat
    • Ping
    • tcpdump
    For more information on the usage of this tool, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) Installation Guide.
  • Supports Integration with ASM: With this enhancement, the ASM configures automatically at the time of NSSF installation. For more information on the usage of this configuration, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) Installation Guide..
  • Dynamic log level update: Common Configuration Service lets OCNSSF centralize its configuration and update it dynamically without a restart. For more information, see the Runtime Log Level Update section of the Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) User's Guide.
  • ATS support: OCNSSF supports Automated Testing Suite for validating the functionalities. Georedundancy and Multiple PLMN are part of NSSF new features pipeline. Jenkins plugin of Test Result Analyzer is also added. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Automated Test Suite (ATS) Guide.

Unified Data Management (UDM)

There are no new features or updates implemented in CNC 2.3.3 release.

Unified Data Repository (UDR)

UDR 1.11.0 has been updated with the following enhancements:
  • Automated ASM configurations during NF installation: With this enhancement, the ASM configures automatically at the time of UDR installation. For more information, see Chapter 4 - ASM Data Plane Configuration using Helm of the Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Unified Data Repository Installation and Upgrade Guide.
  • Enhancements to Helm install (Automatic DB creation): The UDR database user, password and granting of permissions to the user are currently manual action as part of the UDR Installation. With this enhancement, the operator can install UDR via Helm and all these manual operations are automated. For more information, see the Planning Your Installation section of Chapter 2, Installing Unified Data Repository in the Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Unified Data Repository Installation and Upgrade Guide.
  • Support of XFCC header at SLF: With this enhancement, UDR/SLF supports XFCC header validation for the ingress traffic that originates via SCP. It provides a way to validate the origin SCP from which requests are received on UDR/SLF. For more information, see the Configuring User Parameters section of the Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Unified Data Repository Installation and Upgrade Guide.
  • Common Config Service APIs Integration: With this enhancement, common services like Ingress Gateway, Egress Gateway, Alternate Route Service are now configurable using REST based APIs. For more information, see Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Unified Data Repository REST Specification Guide.
  • Logging and Tracing Improvements for UDR: With this enhancement, UDR logging level and tracing practices are improved. For more information, see Understanding Log Attribute Details section of the Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Unified Data Repository Installation and Upgrade Guide.
  • Logging and Tracing Improvements for Provisioning Gateway: With this enhancement, Provisioning Gateway logging level and tracing practices are improved. For more information, see Understanding Log Attribute Details section of the Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Provisioning Gateway Guide.
  • Addition of Non-SLF Features to UDR ATS: With this release, Non-SLF features like policy data, udm data, diameter etc are added to UDR ATS. For more information, see Oracle Communications Automated Testing Suite Guide.