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OmniNEF

OmniNEF is the Network Exposure Function (NEF) for the Omnitouch 5G Core. It is the core's northbound gateway: it securely exposes network capabilities and events to external Application Functions (AFs) and translates between the operator-facing northbound API and the internal service-based interfaces (SBI).

The NEF is defined by 3GPP TS 23.501 §6.2.5 and TS 23.502 §5.2.6. Its northbound API toward AFs is the T8 interface in 3GPP TS 29.122 and the Nnef services in 3GPP TS 29.522. Southbound it drives the UDM (TS 29.503), the PCF (TS 29.514) and the UDR (TS 29.519).

OmniNEF provides AF authorization and per-AF request throttling, NRF registration as NFType NEF, and four northbound capabilities: monitoring-event exposure, parameter provisioning, AF session with required QoS, and traffic influence, all wired to the UDM/PCF/UDR over SBI. Notification relay of monitoring-event reports back to the AF (the NEF registers a per-subscription callback with the producer NF, maps received reports to a T8 MonitoringNotification, and forwards them to the AF's notificationDestination) is provided.

Documentation

Architecture Overview

OmniNEF sits between untrusted third-party AFs and the trusted core. Every northbound request is authorized and throttled per-AF, then translated into the corresponding SBI operation toward the UDM, PCF or UDR. The core NF that serves the request is resolved from the NRF via Nnrf_NFDiscovery.

Features Overview

Core Functionality

  • AF authorization - Each northbound request presents an API key (bearer token or X-Api-Key). Unknown keys are rejected; each AF is scoped to the subset of APIs it may call (TS 23.501 §6.2.5).
  • Per-AF throttling - A sliding one-second window enforces a per-AF request-rate ceiling, protecting the core from over-eager or misbehaving AFs.
  • Nnef_EventExposure (Monitoring Events) - Reachability, loss-of-connectivity and location-reporting subscriptions, translated to Nudm_EventExposure toward the UDM (which drives the AMF).
  • Nnef_ParameterProvision - AF provisioning of expected-UE-behaviour / service-specific parameters, applied via Nudm_ParameterProvision (UDM → UDR).
  • Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS - An AF requests QoS for a data session; the NEF creates an application session at the PCF via Npcf_PolicyAuthorization.
  • Nnef_TrafficInfluence - AF influence on traffic routing, routed to the PCF for an individual UE or stored as influenceData in the UDR for a group / any-UE.
  • Resource lifecycle - Each created resource is stored, readable (GET), and deletable (DELETE tears the resource down in the core NF).

Integration Points

  • Application Functions (T8 / Nnef) - External consumers of the northbound API.
  • NRF (SBI) - OmniNEF registers as NFType NEF and heartbeats, and discovers the UDM/PCF/UDR it must reach.
  • UDM, PCF, UDR (SBI) - The producer NFs the northbound requests are translated onto.

Configuration Summary

All configuration lives under the :omninef application key. A subset of keys can be overridden by environment variables in the production runtime configuration; the nested af_registry map is set through the application config file (or the NEF_AF_REGISTRY JSON env var). See the Configuration Reference for the complete parameter tables.

config :omninef,
sbi_scheme: "http",
sbi_addr: "127.0.0.30",
sbi_port: 7777,
nrf_uri: "http://127.0.0.10:7777",
mcc: "999",
mnc: "70",
heartbeat_interval: 10_000,
af_registry: %{},
default_rate_limit_per_sec: 10

Documentation Structure

By Role

Operators and Administrators:

  1. Start with the Operations Guide
  2. Review Metrics and Monitoring
  3. Keep Troubleshooting to hand

System Integrators:

  1. Start with the Configuration Reference
  2. Review the endpoint and mapping sections of the Operations Guide

By Topic