SMF Design Overview

../_images/CN-SMF.png

UPF-Adapter

As UPF may not support connections from multiple SMF instances with same Node-Id, UPF-Adapter layer has been introduced.

  • UPF-Adapter acts like Mux-Demux for PFCP messages between multiple SMF instances and UPF.

  • SMF sends custom PFCP msg to UPF-Adapter if UPF-Adapter is deployed.

  • The UPF-Adapter intercepts and modifies certain fields before sending PFCP msg to actual UPF.

  • Similar handling is done for the response from UPF towards SMF.