8.7 Network capability exposure to EAS

23.5583GPPArchitecture for enabling Edge ApplicationsRelease 18TS

8.7.1 General

The network capability exposure to EAS(s) depends on the deployment scenarios and the business relationship of the ASP/ECSP with the PLMN operator. The following mechanisms are supported:

– Direct network capability exposure.

– Network capability exposure via EES.

8.7.2 Direct network capability exposure

The EAS(s) (acting as trusted or untrusted AF) may directly access the 3GPP Core Network capabilities as specified in 3GPP TS 23.501 [2] and 3GPP TS 23.682 [17].

8.7.3 Network capability exposure via EES

The EES may re-expose the network capabilities of the 3GPP core network to the EAS(s) as per the CAPIF architecture specified in 3GPP TS 23.222 [6].

Depending on the deployment models (centralized or distributed) employed,

– the EES assumes the role of the API exposing function (may also acts as the API topology hiding entry) as described in 3GPP TS 23.222 [6]; and

– the EAS assumes the role of an API invoker.

If CAPIF is supported, the EAS interacts with the CAPIF core function and the EES. The EES may further interact with 3GPP northbound service API provider (e.g. SCEF/NEF/SCEF+NEF) or directly with 3GPP core network entities (e.g. PCF) to satisfy the service API invocation requests from the EASs.

The EES may expose the network capabilities of the 3GPP Core Networks to the EAS(s) by supporting the functionalities of 3GPP northbound service API provider (e.g. SCEF, NEF, SCEF+NEF).

NOTE: Details of how to select a proper 3GPP network exposure function (e.g. selecting NEF, SCEF, or SCEF+NEF) for the UE(s) is outside scope of this specification.