5G N4

References –

TS 29.244 – Interface between the Control plane Plane and the User Plane of EPC
Nodes
TS 23.501 – System Architecture for the 5G System; Stage 2
TS 23.502 – Procedures for the 5G System; Stage 2
https://www.developingsolutions.com/PfcpDict/Dictionary/292441.html
 N4 Interface

N4 Interface - Bridge between the control plane and the user plane
N4 - Conduit for PDU session management and traffic steering towards the UPF
and PDU usage and event reporting towards the SMF
The PFD Management procedure is used by an SMF to provision, update, and
remove PFDs in the UPF
The SMF conveys the policy rules obtained from the PCF regarding packet
handling, forwarding, and usage reporting to the UPF
N4 node-level procedures are used to establish and manage the interface between
an SMF and a UPF
The setup and release procedures establish and terminate N4 interfaces
Either the SMF or the UPF may initiate a setup or an update procedure, while the
release procedure is always initiated by the SMF
 N4 - Phase 1 Requirements

Following messages shall be supported in phase 1 -

1. Association-Setup-Response-N4 Message – In response to Association-Setup-
Request-N4

2. Session-Establishment-Response-N4 Message – In response to Session-

Establishment-Request-N4

3. Session-Deletion-Response-N4 Message – In response to Session-Deletion-

Request-N4

4. Session-Report-Request-N4 Message – Originated by UP

5. Heartbeat-Response-N4 Message - In response to Heartbeat-Request-N4. Let CP

send request

6. PFD-Management-Response-N4 Message – In response to PFD-Management-

Request
 Association-Setup-Response-N4 Message
If the UP accepts a CP initiated Association Setup Request, it will send (1) a Response with a
successful cause, including all supported optional features in the UP function and optionally
including the available user plane resources; or (2) a Version Not Supported Response (if the
header of the request indicates a PFCP protocol version that is not supported by the UP
function); or (3) a Response with an appropriate error cause if the request is rejected. If the CP
function accepts a UP function initiated Association Setup Request, it will send (1) a Response
with a successful cause; or (2) a Version Not Supported Response (if the header of the request
indicates a PFCP protocol version that is not supported by the CP function); or (3) a response
with an appropriate error cause if the request is rejected.
Name Occurrences
Node-ID 1 .. 1
Cause 1 .. 1
Recovery-Time-Stamp 1 .. 1
UP-Function-Features 0 .. 1
CP-Function-Features 0 .. 1

User-Plane-IP-Resource-Information 0 .. *
 Session-Establishment-Response-N4 Message

The Session Establishment Response is sent by the UP function to the

CP function as a reply to the Session Establishment Request.

Name Occurrences
Node-ID 1 .. 1
Cause 1 .. 1
Offending-IE 0 .. 1
F-SEID 0 .. 1
Created-PDR 0 .. 1
Load-Control-Information 0 .. 1
Overload-Control-Information 0 .. 1
Failed-Rule-ID 0 .. 1
Created-Traffic-Endpoint 0 .. *
Ethernet-Packet-Filter 0 .. *
 Session-Deletion-Response-N4 Message

The Session Deletion Response is sent by the UP function to the CP

function as a reply to the PFCP Session Deletion Request.

Name Occurrences
Cause 1 .. 1
Offending-IE 0 .. 1
Created-PDR 0 .. 1
Load-Control-Information 0 .. 1
Overload-Control-
0 .. 1
Information
Usage-Report-Session-
0 .. *
Deletion-Response
 Session-Report-Request-N4 Message

The Session Report Request is sent by the UP function to the CP function

to report information related to an PFCP session.

Name Occurrences
Report-Type 1 .. 1
Downlink-Data-Report 0 .. 1
Usage-Report-Session-Report-
0 .. *
Request
Error-Indication-Report 0 .. 1
Load-Control-Information 0 .. 1
Overload-Control-Information 0 .. 1
Additional-Usage-Reports-
0 .. 1
Information
 Heartbeat-Response-N4 Message

This message is sent as a response to a received Heartbeat Request.

Name Occurrences
Recovery-Time-Stamp 1 .. 1
 PFD-Management-Response-N4 Message

The UP function sends a PFD Management Response with the cause

"success" if the requested operations received were performed
successfully. If the PFD Management Reqest message is rejected, it will
contain a reject cause, and may also indicate if mandatory and/or
conditional IEs are missing from the Request message.

Name Occurrences
Cause 1 .. 1
Offending-IE 0 .. 1
 N4 session management procedures

N4 session management procedures are used to control the functionality

of the UPF. The SMF can create, update and remove the N4 session
context in the UPF.

The following N4 session management procedures exist: N4 Session

Establishment procedure, N4 session Modification procedure and N4
session release procedure. All of them are initiated by the SMF.
 N4 Session Establishment procedure
The N4 Session Establishment procedure is used to create the initial N4 session context for a PDU Session at
the UPF. The SMF assigns a new N4 Session ID and provides it to the UPF. The N4 Session ID is stored by
both entities and used to identify the N4 session context during their interaction. The SMF also stores the
relation between the N4 Session ID and PDU Session for a UE.

UPF SMF

1.Trigger to establish PDU

session or relocate UPF

2.N4 Session Establishment Request

3.N4 Session Establishment Response

4.Interaction with other

network function

1. SMF receives the trigger to establish a new PDU Session or change the UPF for an established PDU
Session.
2. The SMF sends an N4 session establishment request message to the UPF that contains the structured
control information which defines how the UPF needs to behave.
3. The UPF responds with an N4 session establishment response message containing any information that
the UPF has to provide to the SMF in response to the control information received.
4. The SMF interacts with the network function which triggered this procedure (e.g. AMF or PCF).
 N4 Session Modification procedure
The N4 Session Modification procedure is used to update the N4 session context of an existing PDU Session
at the UPF, which is executed between SMF and UPF whenever PDU Session related parameters have to be
modified.
UPF SMF

1.Trigger to modify PDU

session
2.N4 Session Modification Request

3.N4 Session Modification Response

4.Interaction with other

network function

1. SMF receives the trigger to modify the existing PDU Session.

2. The SMF sends an N4 session modification request message to the UPF that contains the update for
the structured control information which defines how the UPF needs to behave.
3. The UPF identifies the N4 session context to be modified by the N4 Session ID. Then, the UPF updates
the parameters of this N4 session context according to the list of parameters sent by the SMF. The UPF
responds with an N4 session modification response message containing any information that the UPF has to
provide to the SMF in response to the control information received.
4. The SMF interacts with the network entity which triggered this procedure (e.g. AMF or PCF).
 N4 Session Release procedure

The N4 session release procedure is used to remove the N4 session context of an existing PDU Session at the
UPF.
UPF SMF

1.Trigger to release N4
session context
2.N4 Session Release Request

3.N4 Session Release Response

4.Interaction with other

network function

1. SMF receives the trigger to remove the N4 session context for the PDU Session.
2. The SMF sends an N4 session release request message to the UPF.
3. The UPF identifies the N4 session context to be removed by the N4 Session ID and removes the whole
session context. The UPF responds with an N4 session release response message containing any information
that the UPF has to provide to the SMF.
4. The SMF interacts with the network entity which triggered this procedure (e.g. AMF or PCF).
 N4 Reporting Procedures

N4 Session Level Reporting Procedure

This procedure is used by the UPF to report events related to an N4 session for an individual PDU Session.
The triggers for event reporting were configured on the UPF during N4 Session Establishment/Modification
procedures by the SMF.

UPF SMF

1. Trigger to
report event

2. N4 Session Report

3. N4 Session Report ACK