An Implementation Study of 3GPP Network Data Analytics Function on Kubernetes

5G marks a revolutionary shift from previous generations due to its design focused on network containerization. In this new paradigm, cloud-native solutions that leverage Kubernetes (K8s) are widely considered the future of network service development. In particular, there are efforts to operate a container-based control plane that involves the network data analytics function (NWDAF) to manage large-scale traffic through AI/ML capabilities. NWDAF provides data analytics services to support network optimization and service assurance. However, since NWDAF based on cloud-native platforms has not been implemented, it is challenging to apply it to various network analyses. In this paper, we analyze an open source-based 5G system and present the implementation method for building a K8s-based NWDAF environment.