Apparatus and method for processing traffic of service in wireless communication system

1. A method of operating a network node in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

receiving, from at least one user plane function (UPF) instance, a registration request message including UPF profile information of the at least one UPF instance;

storing the UPF profile information including UPF service support information for at least one UPF service supported by the at least one UPF instance and peer information about a connection relationship with another UPF instance capable of handling traffic by connecting the at least one UPF instance;

receiving, from a session management function (SMF) node, a UPF discovery request message including UPF service information;

discovering one or more UPF instance based on the UPF profile information and the UPF service information; and

transmitting, to the SMF node, UPF instance information including the peer information for the one or more UPF instance.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the UPF service support information includes information on at least one of an identifier of the at least one UPF service, a service version of the at least one UPF service, or a service capability of the at least one UPF service.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to storing the UPF profile information, determining the at least one UPF instance as at least one available UPF for UPF service selection or UPF discovery.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the UPF instance information includes the peer information corresponding to the one or more UPF instance.

5. A method of operating a session management function (SMF) node in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

transmitting, to a network node, a user plane function (UPF) discovery request message including UPF service information;

receiving, from the network node, UPF instance information for one or more UPF instance, wherein the UPF instance information includes peer information about a connection relationship with another UPF instance capable of handling traffic by connecting the one or more UPF instance;

determining a UPF network including at least one UPF instance for a traffic of a UPF service based on the peer information from among the one or more UPF instance; and

transmitting, to the at least one UPF instance, information on the traffic of the UPF service.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting, to the one or more UPF instance, an N4 association establishment request message based on the UPF instance information; and

receiving, from the one or more UPF instance, an N4 association establishment response message,

wherein the N4 association establishment response message includes peer information about a connection relationship with another UPF instance capable of handling traffic by connecting the one or more UPF instance,

wherein the UPF network is determined based on the peer information.

7. A network node in a wireless communication system, the network node comprising:

a transceiver; and

at least one processor coupled to the transceiver, and configured to:

receive, from at least one user plane function (UPF) instance, a registration request message including UPF profile information of the at least one UPF instance,

store the UPF profile information including UPF service support information for at least one UPF service supported by the at least one UPF instance and peer information about a connection relationship with another UPF instance capable of handling traffic by connecting the at least one UPF instance,

receive, from a session management function (SMF) node, a UPF discovery request message including UPF service information,

discover one or more UPF instance based on the UPF profile information and the UPF service information, and

transmit, to the SMF node, UPF instance information including the peer information for the one or more UPF instance.

8. The network node of claim 7 , wherein the UPF service support information includes information on at least one of an identifier of the at least one UPF service, a service version of the at least one UPF service, or a service capability of the at least one UPF service.

9. The network node of claim 7 , wherein the UPF instance information includes the peer information corresponding to the one or more UPF instance.

10. A session management function (SMF) node in a wireless communication system, the SMF node comprising:

a transceiver; and

at least one processor coupled to the transceiver, and configured to:

transmit, to a network node, a UPF discovery request message including UPF service information;

receive, from the network node, UPF instance information for one or more UPF instance, wherein the UPF instance information includes peer information about a connection relationship with another UPF instance capable of handling traffic by connecting the one or more UPF instance;

determine a UPF network including at least one UPF instance for a traffic of a UPF service based on the peer information from among the one or more UPF instance; and

transmit, to the at least one UPF instance, information on the traffic of the UPF service.

11. The SMF node of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

transmit, to the one or more UPF instance, N4 association establishment request message based on the UPF instance information, and

receive, from the one or more UPF instance, N4 association establishment response message,

wherein the N4 association establishment response message includes peer information about a connection relationship with another UPF instance capable of handling traffic by connecting the one or more UPF instance,

wherein the UPF network is determined based on the peer information.