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Glossary

NEF (Network Element Function) in 3GPP: meaning and where it is specified

Published 2026-10-16Updated 2026-10-16

At a glance

Term
NEF
Stands for
Network Element Function
Defined in
3GPP TR 21.905 V19.2.0, clause 4
Used in
TS 23.501, TS 29.522, TS 29.591

In plain words

TR 21.905 V19.2.0 expands NEF as Network Element Function, while TS 23.501 calls it Network Exposure Function: "The Network Exposure Function (NEF) supports the following independent functionality:" TS 29.522 describes the Network Exposure Function as supporting related stage 2 requirements through procedures specified in clause 4.4. TS 29.591 describes it as providing application or user related information to NF service consumers defined in that specification.

Source: 3GPP TS 23.501 V15.13.0, clause 6.2.5. © 3GPP Organizational Partners (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, TTC). Official text: https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/23_series/23.501/23501-fd0.zip

Sources

  1. 3GPP TR 21.905 V19.2.0, clause 4. © 3GPP Organizational Partners (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, TTC). Official text: https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/21_series/21.905/21905-j20.zip
  2. 3GPP TS 23.501 V15.13.0, clause 6.2.5. © 3GPP Organizational Partners (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, TTC). Official text: https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/23_series/23.501/23501-fd0.zip
  3. 3GPP TS 29.522 V20.1.0, clause 4.3.1. © 3GPP Organizational Partners (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, TTC). Official text: https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/29_series/29.522/29522-k10.zip
  4. 3GPP TS 29.591 V20.1.0, clause 4.2.1.3.1. © 3GPP Organizational Partners (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, TTC). Official text: https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/29_series/29.591/29591-k10.zip

How this page was made

The facts box comes straight from the 3GPP TDoc list and specification archive as indexed by 3GPP Scout. An AI model (GPT-6 Luna) wrote the paragraph and named the source of each sentence. Code checked every quote word for word against the stored source text and every number against the cited source. A second AI model from another company (Claude Opus 5.5) reviewed the paragraph against the same sources. The 3GPP documents themselves govern.