# US 12,003,592 B2 · Method and apparatus for service discovery > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,003,592 B2 - Document ID: US12003592B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/600,150 - Filed: 2020-04-02 - Published: 2022-04-21 - Granted: 2024-06-04 - Earliest claimed: 2019-04-02 - Assignees: Telefonaktiebolagget LM Ericsson (Publ) - Applicants: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) - Inventors: Xiaowei Zhang; Peng Li; Cheng Wang - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12003592B2 ## CPC - H04L 67/51: Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services - H04W 4/50: Service provisioning or reconfiguring - H04W 24/02: Arrangements for optimising operational condition - H04W 48/16: Discovering, processing access restriction or access information - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods and apparatuses for service discovery. The method may comprise sending a first service discovery request including forward information indicating that the first service discovery request has been processed by one or more network function repository nodes to a second network function repository node; and receiving a first service discovery response from the second network function repository node. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method at a first network function repository node, comprising: sending a first service discovery request including forward information indicating that the first service discovery request has been processed by one or more network function repository nodes to a second network function repository node, the forward information including a forward indicator indicating that the first service discovery request has been forwarded before and/or a visited network function repository node list and/or a number of network function repository nodes that have been visited to serve the first service discovery request; and receiving a first service discovery response from the second network function repository node. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the forward information further includes a maximum number of network function repository nodes that can be visited to serve the first service discovery request. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the visited network function repository node list includes information of the first network function repository node. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein sending the first service discovery request is in response to the first network function repository node receives a second service discovery request. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method according to claim 4, wherein the first service discovery request is generated based on the second service discovery request. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the first service discovery response includes information of a next hop network function repository node and updated forward information, the method further comprises: sending another first service discovery request including the updated forward information to the next hop network function repository node; and receiving another first service discovery response from the next hop network function repository node. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the first service discovery response includes information of a next hop network function repository node, the method further comprises: determining that the first service discovery request is not processed by the next hop network function repository node based on the forward information; sending another first service discovery request including updated forward information to the next hop network function repository node; and receiving another first service discovery response from the next hop network function repository node. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein a network function repository node is identified with at least one of: a network function instance identifier, a network function fully qualified domain name (FQDN), an Internet protocol (IP) address, a universal resource identifier (URI), a uniform resource location (URL), data center information, geography location information, network topology information, network identity information, a sub-network type, subscriber information, network slice information, dedicated core network information, and a designated flag assigned by a network operator. ### Claim 9 A method at a second network function repository node, comprising: receiving a first service discovery request including forward information indicating that the first service discovery request has been processed by one or more network function repository nodes from a first network function repository node, the forward information including a forward indicator indicating that the first service discovery request has been forwarded before and/or a visited network function repository node list and/or a number of network function repository nodes that have been visited to serve the first service discovery request; and sending a first service discovery response to the first network function repository node. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method according to claim 9, wherein the forward information further includes a maximum number of network function repository nodes that can be visited to serve the first service discovery request. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method according to claim 9, wherein the visited network function repository node list includes information of the first network function repository node. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The method according to claim 9, further comprising: updating the forward information; determining a next hop network function repository node that has not been visited to serve the first service discovery request based on the forward information, wherein the first service discovery response includes information of the next hop network function repository and/or the updated forward information. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method according to claim 12, wherein the forward information includes a number of network function repository nodes that have been visited to serve the first service discovery request, the method further comprises: deciding whether to determine the next hop network function repository node that has not been visited to serve the first service discovery request based on an updated number of network function repository nodes and a maximum number of network function repository nodes that can be visited to serve the first service discovery request. ### Claim 14 (depends on 9) The method according to claim 9, further comprising: updating the forward information; determining a next hop network function repository node that has not been visited to serve the first service discovery request; sending an updated first service discovery request including the updated forward information to the next hop network function repository node; and receiving a corresponding service discovery response from the next hop network function repository node. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method according to claim 14, wherein the forward information includes a number of network function repository nodes that have been visited to serve the first service discovery request and a maximum number of network function repository nodes that can be visited to serve the first service discovery request, the method further comprises: deciding whether to determine the next hop network function repository node that has not been visited to serve the first service discovery request based on the updated number of network function repository nodes and the maximum number of network function repository nodes. ### Claim 16 (depends on 9) The method according to claim 9, wherein a network function repository node is identified with at least one of a network function instance identifier, a network function fully qualified domain name (FQDN), an Internet protocol (IP) address, a universal resource identifier (URI), a uniform resource location (URL), data center information, geography location information, network topology information, network identity information, a sub-network type, subscriber information, network slice information, dedicated core network information, and a designated flag assigned by a network operator. ### Claim 17 An apparatus at a first network function repository node, comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor, whereby said apparatus is operative to: send a first service discovery request including forward information indicating that the first service discovery request has been processed by one or more network function repository nodes to a second network function repository node, the forward information including a forward indicator indicating that the first service discovery request has been forwarded before and/or a visited network function repository node list and/or a number of network function repository nodes that have been visited to serve the first service discovery request; and receive a first service discovery response from the second network function repository node. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the first service discovery response includes information of a next hop network function repository node and updated forward information and wherein the apparatus is further operative to: send another first service discovery request including the updated forward information to the next hop network function repository node; and receive another first service discovery response from the next hop network function repository node.