The principle for specifying the procedure logic is to specify the functional behaviour of the terminating NG-RAN node exactly and completely. Any rule that specifies the behaviour of the originating NG-RAN node shall be possible to be verified with information that is visible within the system.
The following specification principles have been applied for the procedure text in
clause 8:
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The procedure text discriminates between:
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Functionality which "shall" be executed
The procedure text indicates that the receiving node "shall" perform a certain function Y under a certain condition. If the receiving node supports procedure X but cannot perform functionality Y requested in the initiating message of a Class 1 EP, the receiving node shall respond with the message used to report unsuccessful outcome for this procedure, containing an appropriate cause value.
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Functionality which "shall, if supported" be executed
The procedure text indicates that the receiving node "shall, if supported," perform a certain function Y under a certain condition. If the receiving node supports procedure X, but does not support functionality Y, the receiving node shall proceed with the execution of the EP, possibly informing the requesting node about the not supported functionality.
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Any required inclusion of an optional IE in a response message is explicitly indicated in the procedure text. If the procedure text does not explicitly indicate that an optional IE shall be included in a response message, the optional IE shall not be included. For requirements on including Criticality Diagnostics IE, see clause 10.
The forwards and backwards compatibility of the protocol is assured by a mechanism where all current and future messages, and IEs or groups of related IEs, include ID and criticality fields that are coded in a standard format that will not be changed in the future. These parts can always be decoded regardless of the standard version.
For the purposes of the present document, the following notations apply:
Procedure
When referring to an elementary procedure in the specification the Procedure Name is written with the first letters in each word in upper case characters followed by the word "procedure", e.g. Handover Preparation procedure.
Message
When referring to a message in the specification the MESSAGE NAME is written with all letters in upper case characters followed by the word "message", e.g. HANDOVER REQUEST message.
IE
When referring to an information element (IE) in the specification the Information Element Name is written with the first letters in each word in upper case characters and all letters in Italic font followed by the abbreviation "IE", e.g. PDU Session ID IE.
Value of an IE
When referring to the value of an information element (IE) in the specification the
"Value" is written as it is specified in sub
clause 9.2 enclosed by quotation marks, e.g.
"Value".