EP3928468A1

EP3928468A1 - Methods and devices for service capability discovery provided by management function providers

Info

Publication number: EP3928468A1
Application number: EP19714599.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Attila HORVAT
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-27
Filing date: 2019-03-27
Publication date: 2021-12-29
Also published as: WO2020192903A1

Abstract

A management function (10) configured to operate in a mobile network is provided. The management function configured to request (21) at least a first set of metadata from at least one management function provider (12) and to receive (23) the at least one set of metadata from said at least management function provider. The management function is also configured to parse (31, 35) the at least one set of metadata into at least one parsed metadata, and to transform (43, 47) the at least one parsed metadata into at least one transformed parsed metadata. The management function is configured to execute a discovery (53, 57) of service capability procedure of said at least one management function provider to discover at least one service capability provided by said at least one management function provider from the at least one transformed parsed metadata. Hereby it is enabled to discover service capabilities provided by different management functions in an efficient manner. The discover service capabilities provided by different management functions can be stored in a repository for later use also by other entities.

Description

METHODS AND DEVICES FOR SERVICE CAPABILITY DISCOVERY PROVIDED BY

MANAGEMENT FUNCTION PROVIDERS

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates to a management function of a telecommunication network. In particular the disclosure relates to discovery of service capability provided by management function providers of the telecommunication network.

BACKGROUND

In 5G network management for telecommunications there will be exposed management services (MnS) as defined by 3GPP WG5. This is described in 3GPP TS 28.533. As part of service-based management architecture, the management functions will be present in the roles of Consumer (MnS Consumer), or Provider MnS Provider or both. These exposed management services need to be discoverable by the Consumer in different use cases, for example: 3rd party system, single vendor deployment, multi-vendor deployment, network automation system, etc.

According to 3GPP TS 28.533 release 15, MnS Consumer will employ a procedure for discovery of MnS instance, using a MnS query operation, while each MnS instance will carry metadata attributes of its specified management service components A, B and optional C.

Management service component type A is a group of management operations and/or notifications agnostic of managed entities. Management service component type B is the management information represented by information model of managed entities. Management service component type B can for example be Network resource models of 3GPP defined entities for mobile networks such as those found in 3GPP TS 28.541 : "Management and orchestration of 5G networks; Network Resource Model (NRM); Stage 2 and stage 3".

Management service component type C is performance information of the managed entity and fault information of the managed entity. The following are examples of Management service component type C:

1 . Alarm information as defined in TS 28.532 and TS 28.545.

2. Performance data as defined in TS 28.552, TS 28.554 and TS 32.425.

The definition of metadata attributes is “The instances of management services carry information about specified management service components in the metadata attributes.” There is a constant desire to improve upon existing telecommunication networks. Thus, there is a need for an improved management function for telecommunication networks.

SUMMARY

As has been realized, there is a need for an improved method to discover MnS capabilities.

It is therefore an object of the disclosure to provide an improved procedure for discovery of MnS capabilities.

These objects and or other objects are obtained by devices and methods as set out in the appended claims.

In accordance with a first aspect of the disclosure a management function configured to operate in a mobile network is provided. The management function configured to request at least a first set of metadata from at least one management function provider and to receive the at least one set of metadata from said at least management function provider. The management function is also configured to parse the at least one set of metadata into at least one parsed metadata or, and to transform the at least one parsed metadata into at least one transformed parsed metadata or into at least one transformed parsed data. The management function is configured to execute a discovery of service capability procedure of said at least one management function provider to discover at least one service capability provided by said at least one management function provider from the at least one

transformed parsed metadata or at least one transformed parsed data. Hereby it is enabled to discover service capabilities provided by different management functions in an efficient manner.

In accordance with a first implementation of the first aspect, the management function is configured to parse the at least one set of metadata by sending said received at least one set of metadata from said at least one management function provider to a parser provider and to receive said at least one parsed metadata from the parser provider in response to the sent at least one set of metadata. Hereby parsing can be provided by another entity.

In accordance with a second implementation of the first aspect, the management function is configured to transform the at least one parsed metadata by sending parsed metadata to a metadata transformation provider and to receive transformed parsed metadata from the metadata transformation provider in response to the sent parsed metadata. Hereby transformation of parsed metadata can be provided by another entity. In accordance with a third implementation of the first aspect, the management function is configured to execute the discovery of service capability procedure by sending collected transformed parsed metadata to a discovery of service provider and to receive discovered service capability from the discovery of service provider in response to the sent transformed parsed metadata. Hereby discovery of service capability can be provided by another entity.

In accordance with a fourth implementation of the first aspect, the management function is configured to execute the discovery of service capability procedure by an internal procedure configured to extract the service capability from transformed parsed metadata. Hereby an alternative discovery of service capability can be provided where the discovery procedure can be performed internally.

In accordance with a fifth implementation of the first aspect, the management function is configured to transform the at least one parsed metadata into at least one transformed parsed metadata, and to execute the discovery of service capability procedure by sending parsed metadata to a transformation/ discovery of service capability provider and to receive discovered service capabilities from the transformation /discovery of service provider in response to the sent parsed metadata. Hereby the signaling can be reduced when a provider is set up to perform both transformation of parsed metadata and to discover service capabilities.

In accordance with a sixth implementation of the first aspect, when the service capability is discovered as metadata, the management function is configured to execute a capability mapping procedure to map service capability metadata to service capability data. Hereby the service capability can be output as transformed data instead of in a metadata format making the use of the discovered capabilities more easily accessible. Further, from a consumer perspective, the discovery process can be made even more efficient because the entire procedure can be done in a single step. In other words, a management function consumer and a management function provider will only exchange metadata. The remaining procedure can be automated by mapping metadata to data. The mapping can be performed by an internal mapping function of the management function or the mapping procedure can be performed in a separate entity.

In accordance with a seventh implementation of the first aspect, the management function is configured to send service capability metadata to a capability transformation provider and to receive service capability data in response to the sent service capability metadata. Hereby the transformation of service capability metadata to service capability data can be performed by another management function. In accordance with an eighth implementation of the first aspect, the management function is configured to collect said at least one service capability provided by said at least one management function provider in a memory. Hereby the result of the discovered service capabilities can be stored for later use.

In accordance with a ninth implementation of the first aspect, the management function is configured to provide at least one service capability provided by said at least one

management function provider in response to a request for discovered service capability of management function providers. Hereby a stored service capability can be used by another entity and signaling can be reduced.

In accordance with a second aspect of the disclosure, a management function provider is provided. The management function provider can be configured to receive a set of transformed parsed metadata, and to discover at least one service capability provided by the at least one management function based on the set of transformed parsed metadata. The management function provider can be configured to output the discovered at least one service capability provided by the at least one management function. The discovered at least one service capability provided by the at least one management function can be output to a memory. Hereby a management function provider can provide discovered service capabilities.

In accordance with a first implementation of the second aspect, the management function provider is configured to receive a request for discovery of at least one service capability of at least one management function and to output the discovered at least one service capability provided by the at least one management function in response to the received request for discovery of at least one service capability of at least one management function. Hereby discovered service capabilities of management functions can be shared with other entities whereby signaling can be reduced.

In accordance with a second implementation of the second aspect, the management function provider is configured to receive a request for transformation of parsed metadata, and to receive parsed metadata. The management function provider is configured to transform the parsed metadata to transformed parsed metadata and discover the at least one service capability provided by the at least one management function based on the transformed parsed metadata. Hereby the management function provider can provide multiple tasks.

In accordance with a third implementation of the second aspect, the management function provider is configured to receive the request for discovery of at least one service capability of at least one management function (10), together with the request for transformation of parsed metadata. Hereby the management function provider can provide multiple tasks in response to a single request whereby signaling can be reduced.

The disclosure also extends to methods executed by management functions and management function providers in accordance with the above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will now be described in more detail, by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows an exemplary procedure for collecting metadata from management function providers,

Fig. 2 shows an exemplary procedure for performing parsing of collected metadata,

Fig. 3 shows an exemplary procedure for transformation of parsed metadata,

Fig. 4 shows an exemplary procedure for discovery of capabilities of management function providers from parsed metadata, and

Fig. 5 shows an exemplary overall signaling diagram for providing a repository of capabilities of management function providers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosure will now be described in detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments of the invention are shown. The disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the description.

As has been realized, the current 3GPP specifications related to Management Service (MnS) discovery can be improved. For example, in the current 3GPP specifications it is not possible to serve all MnS consumer use cases such as multi-vendor discovery of MnS, automation. Also, it introduces additional complexity in multi-vendor deployments, such as with current MnS instance registration requirement); It does also not include a solution for discovery of MnS instance metadata such as management capability and it can create problems for network automation, such as for requirements like discovery of MnS information provided by different MnS vendors discovery of MnS metadata.

To address these shortcomings of the existing 3GPP specifications a MnS metadata repository that offers discovery of capabilities such as management service capability, but without registration step request from each MnS provider is provided. Hereby it is possible to address challenges in multi-vendor deployments of the service-based management architecture (SBMA), since the discoverable information stays in metadata level and does not require MnS providers to register their MnS information (e.g. MnS type, MnS version, MnS vendor id, etc.) and it also supports operator network management automation case where discovery of metadata is sufficient and desirable.

In any system, data as well as metadata needs to be understood by the computer system. Within computer science, the term data parse or parsing is used in the analysis of input languages, referring to the syntactic analysis of the input code into its component parts in order to facilitate the writing of compilers and interpreters. A parser is a software component that takes input data (frequently text) and builds a data structure - often some kind of parse tree, abstract syntax tree or other hierarchical structure, giving a structural representation of the input while checking for correct syntax.

In the current 3GPP TS 28.533 specification, the specified service interface offers multiple management capabilities. In the system described herein, management capability can be derived from metadata parsing result, using information from metadata attributes that carry information about specified MnS component type A, type B and optional type C. Each metadata attribute is dedicated for different management service specified components type A, type B and type C (e.g. metadata attribute 1 for type A, metadata attribute 2 for type B and metadata attribute 3 for type B specified component). This does not exclude the possibility that each specified component metadata is carried in multiple metadata attributes (e.g. a number of N metadata attributes for type A, a number of M metadata attributes for type B, etc.).

The system can define management capability as metadata that is derived from metadata. For example, the metadata can describe a specific combination of management service specified components type A, type B and type C. For example, 3GPP specified component A “alarmReporting” can be described in metadata attribute in text format as“alarm reporting”.

The discovery of management functions can in accordance with some embodiments be provided by proprietary solution for example using a management function broadcast Internet protocol (IP) address or a Domain Name System (DNS) lookup. In case the service interface offers non-standardized specified components type A, type B and type C, additional (vendor specific) a metadata parser can in accordance with some embodiment be used, otherwise, single metadata parser is typically sufficient for MnS instance metadata parsing.

Further, in case additional service interface needs to expose the same capability to different MnS consumers with different isolated managed data (e.g. multi-tenancy use case), the management capability can in accordance with some embodiments be derived from the same or a different combination of management service specified components type A, type B and type C.

Exemplary procedures for obtaining a collected set of service capabilities provided by management functions will now be described.

In Fig. 1 an exemplary signaling diagram for requesting at least a first set of metadata from at least one management function provider 12 by a management function 10 or Management Service Consumer MnS C is illustrated. The management function 10 requests access to MnS metadata attributes, from 1 ...N number of MnS metadata providers labelled MnS P 12 in Fig. 1 . This is performed in a first step 101. After MnS metadata providers 1 ... N grants access to metadata attributes in a step 103, the management function 10 in a step 105 stores the collected MnS metadata from 1 ... N MnS metadata providers in a metadata memory.

In any system, data as well as metadata needs to be understood by the computer system. Within computer science, the term data parse or parsing is typically used in the analysis of input languages, referring to the syntactic analysis of the input code into its component parts in order to facilitate the writing of compilers and interpreters. A parser is a software component that takes input data (frequently text) and builds a data structure - often some kind of parse tree, abstract syntax tree or other hierarchical structure, giving a structural representation of the input while checking for correct syntax. Parsers and implementation of parsers are well known and can be implemented in various ways.

As second procedure MnS metadata parsing can be performed. Parsing means analyzing a string or text into logical syntactic components. The parsing can be performed internally in the management function 10 or if the management function 10 lacks such a capability, a parsing procedure can be performed. In Fig. 2 a parsing procedure employing parsing capabilities of another entity is illustrated. First, in a step 201 , the management function 10 request access to MnS metadata parsing capability from MnS metadata parsing Provider 14. The Provider 14 of metadata parsing capability responds with access granted to MnS metadata parsing capability in a step 203. The management function 10 then in a step 205 requests access to MnS metadata parsing operation from MnS metadata parsing Provider 14 by sending metadata to be parsed. Thus, the management function 10 provides collected MnS metadata to the MnS metadata parsing Provider 14 for MnS metadata parsing operation execution by MnS metadata parsing Provider 14. The Provider 14 performs the parsing in a step 207. The MnS metadata parsing Provider 14 then sends the metadata parsing result, typically in the form of parse trees (1 metadata -> 1 parse tree), to the management function 10 in a step 209. Hereby the management service provider 16 can receive a request for transformation of parsed metadata, receive parsed metadata, and transform the parsed metadata to transformed parsed metadata and discover at least one service capability provided by at least one management function based on the transformed parsed metadata.

The management function 10 can the store the parsed MnS metadata in a parsed metadata memory in a step 21 1. Hereby the management function can be configured to parse the at least one set of metadata by sending said received at least one set of metadata from said at least one management function provider to a parser provider 14 and to receive said at least one parsed metadata from the parser provider in response to the sent at least one set of metadata.

In a third procedure MnS metadata transformation can be performed. In Fig. 3 an exemplary execution of MnS metadata transformation is illustrated. First in a step 301 the management function 10 requests access to MnS metadata transformation capability from a MnS metadata transformation Provider 16. Next, in a step 303 access to MnS metadata transformation capability is granted. Then the management function 10 sends parsed metadata to the MnS metadata transformation Provider 16 in a step 305. The MnS metadata transformation Provider 16, using the parsed metadata, performs MnS metadata

transformation. In other words, the parsed metadata is transformed into service capability metadata of an MnS P12 in a step 307. In an alternative embodiment the service capability metadata of the MnS P 12 is further mapped to service capability data in step 307. The MnS metadata transformation Provider 16 then sends the MnS metadata transformation result to the management function 10 in a step 309. Hereby the management function can be configured to transform the at least one parsed metadata by sending parsed metadata to a metadata transformation provider 16 and to receive transformed parsed metadata from the metadata transformation provider in response to the sent parsed metadata.

The result can then typically be service capability metadata of an MnS P12 or service capability data of an MnS P 12. The capability metadata or capability data of the respective MnS P 12 are then stored in capability memory of the management function 10 in a step 31 1. The capability metadata or capability data can typically be stored together with other MnS information, e.g. instance identity, service interface URI, etc.

In a fourth procedure, depicted in Fig. 4, the management function can discover the capabilities of the respective MnS P:s 1 .... N. In an exemplary procedure the management function 10 can first request discovery of MnS Consumer request access to discovery of MnS capability, from discovery of MnS Provider in a step 401. The discovery of MnS Provider can in accordance with some embodiments be the same provider as the MnS metadata transformation Provider 16. In this example it is assumed that the discovery of MnS Provider 16 is the same as the MnS metadata transformation Provider 16. However, it is also envisaged the discovery of MnS Provider and the MnS metadata transformation Provider can be different providers. After access is granted in a step 403, the management function 10 request access to discovery of MnS operation, e.g. database lookup from discovery of MnS Provider 16 and sends capability data / capability metadata in a step 405. The discovery of MnS Provider 16 provides an output of the capabilities of the respective MnS Provider 12 (MnS P) in a step 407. The output can for example be a list of capabilities for the requested MnS P:s. Finally, as a result of discovery of MnS capability operation, discovery of MnS Provider responses with MnS capability for the respective MnS P:s in a step 409. Hereby the management function can be configured to execute the discovery of service capability procedure by sending collected transformed parsed metadata to a discovery of service provider 16 and to receive discovered service capability from the discovery of service provider in response to the sent transformed parsed metadata. Also, when the discovery of MnS Provider can is the same provider as the MnS metadata transformation Provider 16, the management function can be configured to transform the at least one parsed metadata into at least one transformed parsed metadata, and to execute the discovery of service capability procedure by sending parsed metadata to a transformation/ discovery of service capability provider 16 and to receive discovered service capabilities from the transformation /discovery of service provider in response to the sent parsed metadata. Also, a management function provider 16 can be provided that is configured to: receive a set of transformed parsed metadata,

discover at least one service capability provided by at least one management function

12 based on the set of transformed parsed metadata, and

output the discovered at least one service capability provided by the at least one management function. Further, the management function provider can be configured to receive the request for discovery of at least one service capability of at least one management function 12, together with the request for transformation of parsed metadata.

The received result in step 409 can be stored in a memory of the management service 10 in a step 41 1 . Hereby the management function can be configured to collect at least one service capability provided by the at least one management function provider in a memory.

The MnS capability for the respective MnS P:s can also be stored in the discovery of MnS Provider 16. Hereby it is possible to build a repository of MnS capabilities for different MnS P:s. The repository can then be accessed for discovering capabilities for different MnS P:s by any entity via a single request. When the management function 10 is operable to perform discovery of service capability, there is no need to perform such signaling. Instead the discovery of service capability can be performed internally by the management function 10. Hereby, the management function is configured to execute the discovery of service capability procedure by an internal procedure configured to extract the service capability from transformed parsed metadata.

In Fig. 5 another exemplary implementation of a discovery procedure is shown. The exemplary procedure depicted in Fig. 5 can use part or all of the procedures as set out above. It is to be noted that some of the procedures can be executed locally if there are available resources to perform one or more of the procedures locally. Also, the procedures can be executed at any entity enabled to perform the procedures. For example, one or many of the procedures can be co-located in a single entity. It is also envisaged that all steps can be performed in different entities (management functions). Where the different procedural steps are performed is a matter of implementation decision.

First in a step 21 the management function 10 sends requests to MnS Providers 12 for accessing, collecting and storing MnS metadata and can repeat this step with every MnS Provider 12 it is aware of. In response MnS metadata is collected and stored in a step 23. This corresponds to the procedure described in conjunction with Fig. 1 .

Next, the management function 10 request access to MnS metadata parsing capability from a MnS metadata parsing Provider 12 in a step 27. After access is granted in a step 29, the management function 10 sends collected MnS metadata to MnS metadata parsing Provider 12 in a step 31. The metadata is there used for MnS metadata parsing storage and parse tree generation in a step 33. After MnS parsing is finished by MnS metadata parsing Provider 12, the parsing Provider 12 returns parsed metadata to the management function 10 in a step 35. The result received in step 35 can be stored in a memory of the management function in step 37. Alternatively, the parsing Provider 12 can directly send a request for MnS metadata transformation access to a transformation and or discovery Provider 16.

The parsed metadata can be sent to a transformation Provider 16 in a step 43. The transformation Provider 16 performs transformation of parsed metadata in a step 45. The result of MnS metadata transformation, typically parse trees, can be returned to the management function 10 in a step 47. Alternatively, the result of MnS metadata transformation can be sent to an MnS capability discovery Provider 16 in a step 46. In Fig. 5, it is assumed that the discovery Provider 16 is the same as the transformation provider 16. However, it is also envisaged that the discovery provider can be a different entity. The management function 10 can store the result received in step 47 in a memory as indicated by step 49.

The management function 10 can request discovery of MnS capability from a MnS capability discovery Provider 16 in a step 55. The request sent in step 55 can comprise some or parts of the result received in step 47 or some other transformed parsed metadata. MnS capability discovery Provider 16 from the transformed parsed metadata discovers service capability provided by a management function provider in a step 57. The result that typically can be discovered service capability metadata, can be sent to the management function 10 in a step 59. In an alternative embodiment the MnS capability discovery Provider 16 is configured to discover from the transformed parsed metadata service capability provided by a

management function provider as discovered service capability data in a step 58. Hereby the management function can be configured to send service capability metadata to a capability transformation provider 16 and to receive service capability data in response to the sent service capability metadata. IN particular, the management function can be configured to send service capability metadata to a capability transformation provider 16 and to receive service capability data in response to the sent service capability metadata.

When the MnS capability discovery Provider 16 is configured to discover from the

transformed parsed metadata, service capability provided by a management function provider as discovered service capability data, the MnS capability discovery Provider 16 can be configured to map transformed parsed metadata service capability to transformed parsed data service capability. Also, the result can be stored in the MnS capability discovery

Provider 16. The management function 10 receiving the result, i.e. the discovered service capability provided by management function provider, can store the discovered service capability provided by management function provider in memory in a step 61. Hereby a repository comprising discovered service capability provided by management function providers can be formed at the management function 10 and or at the MnS capability discovery Provider 16. Further, when the service capability is discovered as metadata, the management function can be configured to in a step 62 execute a capability mapping procedure to map service capability metadata to service capability data. In other words when the service capability is metadata, the management function can be configured to execute a mapping procedure to map service capability metadata to service capability data.

Hereby the service capability can be output as transformed data instead of in a metadata format making the use of the discovered capabilities more easily accessible. Hereby a management function 10 is provided that can be configured to operate in a mobile network. The management function can be configured to: request at least a first set of metadata from at least one management function provider 12,

receive the at least one set of metadata from said at least management function provider 12,

parse the at least one set of metadata into at least one parsed metadata,

transform the at least one parsed metadata into at least one transformed parsed metadata or into at least one transformed parsed data,

execute a discovery of service capability procedure of said at least one management function provider 12 to discover at least one service capability provided by said at least one management function provider 12 from the at least one transformed parsed metadata or the at least one transformed parsed data.

When some other entity is in need of discovered service capability provided by management function providers 12, such an entity can send a request to the management function 10 or to the MnS capability discovery Provider 16 in a step 63. In response to such a request 63 the management function 10 or the MnS capability discovery Provider 16 can return requested discovered service capabilities of management function providers stored in the management function 10 or the MnS capability discovery Provider 16 in a step 65. Hereby, the

management function can be configured to provide at least one service capability provided by said at least one management function provider in response to a request for discovered service capability of management function providers. Also, a management function provider 16 is provided that can receive a request for discovery of at least one service capability of at least one management function, and to output the discovered at least one service capability provided by the at least one management function in response to the received request for discovery of at least one service capability of at least one management function 12.

By discovering service capabilities of management function providers in accordance with the above description it can be possible to discovery of MnS capabilities without an MnS registration step and to provide access and collection of MnS instance metadata The discovery of MnS capabilities can be made to support for automation, providing access and discovery of MnS instance metadata. The system as described herein is suitable for multi vendor deployments, providing access to different vendor MnS instance metadata. Also, the discovery procedure of MnS capabilities can be provided by specific or non-specific Management Function (MnF), providing discovery of standardized service interface offered management capabilities (non-specific MnF) and discovery of non-standardized service interface offered management capabilities (specific MnF).

Claims

1. A management function (10) configured to operate in a mobile network, the management function being configured to: request at least a first set of metadata from at least one management function provider (12), receive the at least one set of metadata from said at least management function provider

(12),

parse the at least one set of metadata into at least one parsed metadata, transform the at least one parsed metadata into at least one transformed parsed metadata or into at least one transformed parsed data, execute a discovery of service capability procedure of said at least one management function provider (12) to discover at least one service capability provided by said at least one management function provider (12) from the at least one transformed parsed metadata or the at least one transformed parsed data.

2. The management function (10) according to claim 1 , wherein the management function is configured to parse the at least one set of metadata by sending said received at least one set of metadata from said at least one management function provider to a parser provider (14) and to receive said at least one parsed metadata from the parser provider in response to the sent at least one set of metadata.

3. The management function (10) according to any one of claims 1 - 2, wherein the management function is configured to transform the at least one parsed metadata by sending parsed metadata to a metadata transformation provider (16) and to receive transformed parsed metadata from the metadata transformation provider in response to the sent parsed metadata.

4. The management function (10) according to any one of claims 1 - 3, wherein the management function is configured to execute the discovery of service capability procedure by sending collected transformed parsed metadata to a discovery of service provider (16) and to receive discovered service capability from the discovery of service provider in response to the sent transformed parsed metadata.

5. The management function (10) according to any one of claims 1 - 3, wherein the management function is configured to execute the discovery of service capability procedure by an internal procedure configured to extract the service capability from transformed parsed metadata.

6.The management function (10) according to any one of claims 1 - 2, wherein the management function is configured to transform the at least one parsed metadata into at least one transformed parsed metadata, and to execute the discovery of service capability procedure by sending parsed metadata to a transformation/ discovery of service capability provider (16) and to receive discovered service capabilities from the transformation

/discovery of service provider in response to the sent parsed metadata.

7. The management function (10) according to any one of claims 1 - 6, wherein when the service capability is metadata, the management function is configured to execute a mapping procedure to map service capability metadata to service capability data.

8. The management function (10) according to claim 7, wherein the management function is configured to send service capability metadata to a capability transformation provider (16) and to receive service capability data in response to the sent service capability metadata.

9. The management function (10) according to any one of claims 1 - 8, wherein the management function is configured to collect said at least one service capability provided by said at least one management function provider in a memory.

10. The management function (10) according to claim 9, wherein the management function is configured to provide at least one service capability provided by said at least one

management function provider in response to a request for discovered service capability of management function providers.

1 1. A management function provider (16) configured to: receive a set of transformed parsed metadata, discover at least one service capability provided by at least one management function (12) based on the set of transformed parsed metadata, and output the discovered at least one service capability provided by the at least one

management function.

12. The management function provider (16) according to claim 11 , configured to: receive a request for discovery of at least one service capability of at least one management function, and to output the discovered at least one service capability provided by the at least one management function in response to the received request for discovery of at least one service capability of at least one management function (12).

13. The management function provider (16) according to claim 1 1 or 12, configured to: receive a request for transformation of parsed metadata, receive parsed metadata, transform the parsed metadata to transformed parsed metadata and discover the at least one service capability provided by the at least one management function based on the transformed parsed metadata.

14. The management function provider (16) according to claim 13, configured to: receive the request for discovery of at least one service capability of at least one

management function (12), together with the request for transformation of parsed metadata.

15. A method in a management function (10) of a mobile network comprising to: request (21 ) at least a first set of metadata from at least one management function provider (12),

receive (23) the at least one set of metadata from said at least management function provider (12), parse (31 , 35) the at least one set of metadata into at least one parsed metadata, transform (43, 47) the at least one parsed metadata into at least one transformed parsed metadata or into at least one transformed parsed data, execute (55, 59) a discovery of service capability procedure of said at least one management function provider (12) to discover at least one service capability provided by said at least one management function provider (12) from the at least one transformed parsed metadata or the at least one transformed parsed data.

16. A method in a management function provider (16) of a mobile network comprising to: receive (46, 55) a set of transformed parsed metadata or a set of transformed parsed data, discover (57) at least one service capability provided by the at least one management function based on the set of transformed parsed metadata, or the set of transformed parsed data and output (59, 65) the discovered at least one service capability provided by the at least one management function.