Content for TS 38.473 Word version: 18.2.0
4 General
4.1 Procedure specification principles
4.2 Forwards and backwards compatibility
4.3 Specification notations
5 F1AP services
6 Services expected from signalling transport
7 Functions of F1AP
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4 General p. 26
4.1 Procedure specification principles p. 26
The principle for specifying the procedure logic is to specify the functional behaviour of the terminating node exactly and completely. Any rule that specifies the behaviour of the originating 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:
- 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 REQUEST 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.
- 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.
- 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.
4.2 Forwards and backwards compatibility p. 26
The forwards and backwards compatibility of the protocol is assured by 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.
4.3 Specification notations p. 27
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. E-RAB 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 the specification enclosed by quotation marks, e.g. "Value".
5 F1AP services p. 27
F1AP provides the signalling service between gNB-DU and the gNB-CU that is required to fulfil the F1AP functions described in clause 7. F1AP services are divided into the following groups:
Non UE-associated services:
Unless explicitly indicated in the procedure specification, at any instance in time one protocol endpoint shall have a maximum of one ongoing F1AP procedure related to a certain UE.
Unless explicitly indicated in the procedure specification, at any instance in time one protocol endpoint shall have a maximum of one ongoing F1AP procedure related to a certain MBS session.
All considerations of gNB-DU in this specification also apply to the IAB-DU and IAB-donor-DU, unless stated otherwise. All considerations of gNB-CU in this specification apply to the IAB-donor-CU as well, unless stated otherwise.
They are related to the whole F1 interface instance between the gNB-DU and gNB-CU utilising a non UE-associated signalling connection.
UE-associated services:
They are related to one UE. F1AP functions that provide these services are associated with a UE-associated signalling connection that is maintained for the UE in question.
MBS-associated services:
They are related to one MBS service. F1AP functions that provide these services are associated with a MBS-associated signalling connection that is maintained for the MBS service in question.
6 Services expected from signalling transport p. 27
The signalling connection shall provide in sequence delivery of F1AP messages. F1AP shall be notified if the signalling connection breaks.
7 Functions of F1AP p. 27
The functions of F1AP are described in TS 38.470.
