Method and system for onboarding a virtual network function package utilized by one or more network services

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11113357-B2
Application number	US-202017013259-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 4, 2020
Priority date	Sep 6, 2019
Publication date	Sep 7, 2021
Grant date	Sep 7, 2021

Abstract

Onboarding a Virtual Network Function (VNF) package utilized by multiple network services is disclosed. The VNF package is received from a vendor for network services requested by a customer. The VNF package and its contents may be uploaded on an orchestrating manager, and a NFVI admin decides workflows for the VNF package, for validating and certifying the VNF package. The VNF package is validated using multiple checks and then parameters are identified for monitoring and certifying the VNF package. The VNF package is then ready for onboarding and instantiating the network services requested by the customer.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method for onboarding a Virtual Network Function (VNF) package utilized by one or more network services, comprising:
receiving an identification of a version of the VNF package;
performing one or more validations on the VNF package, and uploading the VNF package when the one or more validations are successfully performed;
executing a precertification by mapping a set of identifiers to the uploaded VNF package; and
executing a certification by initiating the one or more network services and certifying the VNF package based on setting up monitoring using the mapped identifiers;
wherein a rollback validation is executed to delete the uploaded VNF package when the performing one or more validations fail and a rollback certification is executed to remove configurations and the monitoring when the executing the certification fails.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the VNF package comprises metadata, scripts, descriptors and a Virtual Infrastructure Manager (VIM) configuration.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing the one or more validations further comprises performing a qualification check.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the performing the one or more validations further comprises:
validating contents of the VNF package;
performing one or more checks on the VNF package; and
uploading the VNF package to an image repository, a Virtual Infrastructure Manager (VIM), and a Network functions virtualization Orchestration (NFVO) for creating the one or more network services.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the executing the precertification further comprises:
checking a profile of the VNF package using a High Level Design (HLD) document,
creating the one or more network services;
identifying the set of identifiers for the one or more network service, based on the HLD document; and
creating one or more test cases for testing the created network services.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the executing the certification further comprises initiating the monitoring of the VNF package and testing the one or more network service using the one or more test cases.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein onboarding the VNF package comprises error detection and a notification at preconfigured state.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon executable instructions for onboarding a Virtual Network Function (VNF) package utilized by one or more network services that when executed by a processor of a computer cause the computer to perform steps comprising:
receiving an identification of a version of the VNF package;
performing one or more validations on the VNF package, and uploading the VNF package when the one or more validations are successfully performed;
executing a precertification by mapping a set of identifiers to the uploaded VNF package; and
executing a certification by initiating the one or more network services and certifying the VNF package based on setting up monitoring using the mapped identifiers;
wherein a rollback validation is executed to delete the uploaded VNF package when the performing one or more validations fail and a rollback certification is executed to remove configurations and the monitoring when the executing the certification fails.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the performing the one or more validations further comprises performing a qualification check.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the performing the one or more validations further comprises:
wherein the performing the one or more validations further comprises:
validating contents of the VNF package;
performing one or more checks on the VNF package; and
uploading the VNF package to an image repository, a Virtual Infrastructure Manager (VIM), and a Network functions virtualization Orchestration (NFVO) for creating the one or more network services.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the executing the precertification further comprises:
checking a profile of the VNF package using a High Level Design (HLD) document,
creating the one or more network services;
identifying the set of identifiers for the one or more network service, based on the HLD document; and
creating one or more test cases for testing the created network services.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the executing the certification further comprises initiating the monitoring of the VNF package and testing the one or more network service using the one or more test cases.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the VNF package comprises metadata, scripts, descriptors and a Virtual Infrastructure Manager (VIM) configuration.

14. A computing device comprising a memory comprising programmed instructions stored thereon and at least one processor configured to be capable of executing the programmed instructions to:
receive an identification of a version of the VNF package;
performing one or more validations on the VNF package, and uploading the VNF package when the one or more validations are successfully performed;
execute a precertification by mapping a set of identifiers to the uploaded VNF package; and
execute a certification by initiating the one or more network services and certifying the VNF package based on setting up monitoring using the mapped identifiers;
wherein a rollback validation is executed to delete the uploaded VNF package when the perform one or more validations fail and a rollback certification is executed to remove configurations and the monitoring when the execute the certification fails.

15. The device of claim 14 , wherein the performing the one or more validations further comprises performing a qualification check.

16. The device of claim 15 , wherein for the performing the one or more validations, the at least one processor is further configured to be capable of executing the programmed instructions to:
validate contents of the VNF package;
perform one or more checks on the VNF package; and
upload the VNF package to an image repository, a Virtual Infrastructure Manager (VIM), and a Network functions virtualization Orchestration (NFVO) for creating the one or more network services.

17. The device of claim 14 , wherein for the executing the precertification, the at least one processor is further configured to be capable of executing the programmed instructions to:
check a profile of the VNF package using a High Level Design (HLD) document,
create the one or more network services;
identify the set of identifiers for the one or more network service, based on the HLD document; and
create one or more test cases for testing the created network services.

18. The device of claim 14 , wherein for the executing the certification the at least one processor is further configured to be capable of executing the programmed instructions to:
initiate the monitoring of the VNF package and testing the one or more network service using the one or more test cases.

19. The device of claim 14 , wherein the VNF package comprises metadata, scripts, descriptors and a Virtual Infrastructure Manager (VIM) configuration.

Assignees

• Infosys Ltd

Inventors

• Kalpatapu Praveen Kumar
• Sasidharan Sreekanth Sreedevi
• Rawat Devendra Singh
• Vardhana Srikant Akella
• Kumar Anunay

Classifications

• H04L41/40

  using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities · CPC title

• G06F16/955 Primary

  using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL] · CPC title

• H04L41/5048 Primary

  Automatic or semi-automatic definitions, e.g. definition templates · CPC title

• H04L2101/695

  using masks or ranges of addresses · CPC title

• H04L61/5007

  Internet protocol [IP] addresses · CPC title