Method and entities for service availability management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10972365-B2
Application number	US-201916707184-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 9, 2019
Priority date	May 11, 2015
Publication date	Apr 6, 2021
Grant date	Apr 6, 2021

Abstract

A resource orchestration entity and a method for enabling end-to-end service reliability and availability with service flow differential deployment of a network service (NS) with one or more service flows in an NS chain comprising one or more network function nodes coupled via a plurality of intermediate networking nodes. The resource orchestration entity is arranged to obtain an information element of service availability level in at least one descriptor for defining the service availability level requirements of the service flow from an NS management entity, and provide the information element of service availability level together with an identification reference in a NS to a resource management entity for assigning resources comprising network function nodes and their inter-connections in virtual network laying on the network hardware comprising networking nodes when instantiating the NS comprising service flows in the NS chain.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A resource orchestration entity for service flow differential deployment of a network service (NS) chain in a network, comprising:
a memory comprising instructions, wherein the NS chain comprises a first service flow and a second service flow, wherein the first service flow comprises a first set of virtual network functions (VNFs) and virtual links interconnecting the first set of VNFs, and wherein the second service flow comprises a second set of VNFs and virtual links interconnecting the second set of VNFs; and
a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the instructions cause the processor to be configured to:
obtain, from an NS management entity, a first information element of service availability level in a descriptor, wherein the first information element of service availability level defines service availability level requirements of the first service flow and an identification reference of the first service flow;
obtain, from the NS management entity, a second information element of service availability level in the descriptor, wherein the second information element of service availability defines service availability requirements of the second service flow and an identification reference of the second service flow; and
provide the first information element and the second information element to a resource management entity when instantiating the NS,
wherein the first information element enables the resource management entity to assign a first set of resources for the first service flow of the NS chain,
wherein the second information element enables the resource management entity to assign a second set of resources for the second service flow of the NS chain, and
wherein the first set of resources and the second set of resources comprise one or more network function nodes and inter-connections of the one or more network function nodes in a virtual network corresponding to network hardware of the network.

2. The resource orchestration entity of claim 1 , wherein the first information element and the second information element are each part of a Virtual Deployment Unit (VDU) in a Virtual Network Function Descriptor (VNFD).

3. The resource orchestration entity of claim 2 , wherein the first information element specifies service availability level requirements of a first requested resource for a first network function node of the first set of resources, and wherein the second information element specifies service availability level requirements of a second requested resource for a second network function node of the second set of resources.

4. The resource orchestration entity of claim 1 , wherein the first information element and the second information element are each included in a virtual link descriptor (VLD).

5. The resource orchestration entity of claim 4 , wherein the first information element included in the VLD indicates at least one of the following:
a list of supporting service availability levels of the first service flow;
how to identify the service availability levels of the first service flow; or
a corresponding mapping between the service availability levels and identifiers of quality of service (QoS) when the first service flow is identified with a transport layer identifier.

6. The resource orchestration entity of claim 4 , wherein the second information element included in the VLD indicates at least one of the following:
a list of supporting service availability levels of the second service flow;
how to identify the service availability levels of the second service flow; and
a corresponding mapping between the service availability levels and identifiers of class of service when the second service flow is identified with a transport layer identifier.

7. The resource orchestration entity according to claim 1 , wherein the first information element and the second information element are provided to the resource management entity in a request comprising input information defining the service availability level requirements of the NS chain.

8. The resource orchestration entity of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to be configured to receive coordination information from the resource management entity, wherein the coordination information is associated with a coordination with network infrastructure entities of to arrange the first set of resources and the second set of resources in the network.

9. The resource orchestration entity of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to be configured to;
request that a network function management entity instantiate software instances in a first network function node to carry the first service flow with service availability support; and
request that the network function management entity instantiate software instances in a second network function node to carry the second service flow with service availability support.

10. The resource orchestration entity of claim 1 , wherein a network function virtualisation architectural framework of the network comprises a virtual network function (VNF) orchestrator, a VNF manager, a virtualisation infrastructure manager, and a network function node, wherein the VNF orchestrator comprises the resource orchestration entity, wherein the VNF manager comprises a network function management entity, wherein the virtualisation infrastructure manager comprises the resource management entity, wherein the network function node comprises a network function, and wherein the virtual network comprises the inter-connections of the one or more network function nodes.

11. The resource orchestration entity of claim 1 , wherein a network function virtualisation architectural framework of the network comprises a virtual network function (VNF) orchestrator, a VNF manager, a virtualisation infrastructure manager, and a network function node, wherein the VNF orchestrator comprises the resource orchestration entity, wherein the VNF manager comprises a network function management entity, wherein the virtualisation infrastructure manager comprises the resource management entity, and wherein a network function node comprises a VNF.

12. The resource orchestration entity of claim 1 , wherein a network function virtualisation architectural framework of the network comprises a virtual network function (VNF) orchestrator, a VNF manager, a virtualisation infrastructure manager, and a network function node, wherein the VNF orchestrator comprises the resource orchestration entity, wherein the VNF manager comprises a network function management entity, wherein the virtualisation infrastructure manager comprises the resource management entity.

13. The resource orchestration entity of claim 1 , wherein a network function virtualisation architectural framework of the network comprises a virtual network function (VNF) manager, a virtualisation infrastructure manager, and a network function node, wherein the VNF manager comprises the resource orchestration entity and a network function management entity, wherein the virtualisation infrastructure manager comprises the resource management entity, wherein the network function node comprises a VNF, and wherein the virtual network comprises the inter-connections of the one or more network function nodes.

14. A method for enabling service flow differential deployment of a network service (NS) chain in a network, comprising:
obtaining, from an NS management entity, a first information element of service availability level a descriptor, wherein the first information element of service availability level defines service availability level requirements of a first ser

Assignees

• Huawei Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ni Shaoji
• Gong Xuewen

Classifications

• G06F9/5077 Primary

  Logical partitioning of resources; Management or configuration of virtualized resources (specific details on emulation or internal functioning of virtual machines G06F9/455) · CPC title

• H04L41/5054

  Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components · CPC title

• H04L41/5012

  determining service availability, e.g. which services are available at a certain point in time · CPC title

• G06F9/5061 Primary

  Partitioning or combining of resources · CPC title

• H04L41/5045 Primary

  Making service definitions prior to deployment · CPC title