Feature Description

The heartbeat monitors the status of a UPF node in terms of its responsiveness. It initiates a bilateral flow of request and response between the SMF and the UPF. It has the following actions:

  • The SMF periodically sends a signal in the form of a heartbeat request to the registered UPF node. This action helps in determining if the SMF is in active or not.

  • If the SMF doesn’t receive a response from the UPF after the exhausted retransmission attempts, then the SMF recognizes a failure instance. It purges the UPF node-mapped subscribers.

You can control the following:

  • The number of heartbeat requests that SMF sends to UPF.

  • The interval between consecutive requests.

  • The duration until which the SMF waits for a response.

The Heartbeat feature is also applicable for SMF with Diameter interfaces.