Overview
5G UPF supports backward compatibility of software releases on the SMF and the UPF. The feature allows seamless upgrade/downgrade of the software from/to one previous release (N-1). The functionality includes support for the following:
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N-1 compatibility of software releases on two UPFs in ICSR mode—allows seamless upgrade of UPFs from one version to another in UPF 1:1 redundancy scenario.
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N-1 compatibility of software releases between SMF and UPF—allows seamless upgrade of the associated SMF or UPF from one version to another.
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N-1 compatibility of software releases between SMF and UPF with multi-Sx—allows seamless upgrade of the associated SMF or UPF from one version to another in multi-Sx scenario.
Important | Contact your Cisco Account representative for procedural assistance prior to upgrading or downgrading your software versions. |
Version Exchange between SMF and UPF
Version/release information is exchanged when SMF and UPF pairs. The release information exchange also occurs when the UPF pairs with a Standby UPF (in 1:1 redundancy scenario) through the heart beat message exchanged between Active and Standby.
When incompatible releases are paired, an Alarm (SNMP trap) is raised. For details, see SNMP Traps section.
To indicate the peer version during the exchange of release information, the following new IE is included in the association request and heartbeat request messages.
Information Elements |
P |
Condition / Comment |
IE Length |
IE ID |
|||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Peer Version |
O |
Used to specify the peer GR/PFCP version and StarOS version |
4 bytes |
245 |
|||||||
Bits | |||||||||||
Octets | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||
1 to 2 | Peer Version IE Type = 245 (decimal) | ||||||||||
3 to 4 | Length = n bytes | ||||||||||
5 to 8 | Peer GR/PFCP Version | ||||||||||
9 to 12 | StarOS GR Version | ||||||||||
13 to 13 | StarOS Version String Length | ||||||||||
Variable Length | StarOS Version String Value | ||||||||||