Virtual network manager system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11451624-B2
Application number	US-202017086841-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 2, 2020
Priority date	Nov 27, 2018
Publication date	Sep 20, 2022
Grant date	Sep 20, 2022

Abstract

A virtual network manager system comprising a server in communication with a node, the server including at least one virtual network function (VNF), a cluster manager in communication with the server, the cluster manager is configured to detect a change in a health of the VNF on the server and when the change in the health of the VNF occurs generate a signal to a node to perform an action, the action including at least one of throttling traffic to the VNF, rerouting traffic to an alternate VNF, changing a weight value for traffic to the VNF, and generating an alert indicating a relative capacity change at the VNF.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
monitoring, by one or more processors, a health of a virtual network function (VNF) supporting a node;
instantiating, by the one or more processors, a cluster manager, wherein the cluster manager resides in at least one of the VNF, an orchestrator connected to the VNF, or a VNF within a virtual machine;
comparing, by the one or more processors, a health of the VNF to a plurality of thresholds, the health comprising an indication of a capacity of the VNF; and
taking an action, by the one or more processors, based on the comparing, the action comprising: alerting the node when the health is less than a first threshold of the plurality of thresholds and greater than a second threshold of the plurality of thresholds, throttling traffic to the VNF when the health is less than the second threshold and greater than a third threshold of the plurality of thresholds, or rerouting traffic to an alternate VNF when the health is less than the third threshold, wherein the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold are different values.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cluster manager performs the alerting step.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the orchestrator performs the step of alerting.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the orchestrator performs the step of taking the action.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of instantiating includes instantiating the cluster manager in at least one virtual machine supporting the VNF.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising monitoring a plurality of virtual machines to determine the health of the VNF.

7. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory coupled with the one or more processors, the memory storing executable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to effectuate operations comprising:
monitoring a health of a virtual network function (VNF) supporting a node;
instantiating a cluster manager, wherein the cluster manager resides in at least one of the VNF, an orchestrator connected to the VNF, or a VNF within a virtual machine;
comparing a health of the VNF to a plurality of thresholds, the health comprising an indication of a capacity of the VNF; and
taking an action based on the comparing, the action comprising: alerting the node when the health is less than a first threshold of the plurality of thresholds and greater than a second threshold of the plurality of thresholds, throttling traffic to the VNF when the health is less than the second threshold and greater than a third threshold of the plurality of thresholds, or rerouting traffic to an alternate VNF when the health is less than the third threshold, wherein the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold are different values.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the cluster manager performs the alerting step.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the orchestrator performs the step of alerting.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the orchestrator performs the step of taking the action.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the step of instantiating includes instantiating the cluster manager in at least one virtual machine supporting the VNF.

12. The system of claim 7 , the operations further comprising monitoring a plurality of virtual machines to determine the health of the VNF.

13. A computer readable storage medium storing computer executable instructions that when executed by a computing device cause said computing device to effectuate operations comprising:
monitoring a health of a virtual network function (VNF) supporting a node;
instantiating a cluster manager, wherein the cluster manager resides in at least one of the VNF, an orchestrator connected to the VNF, or a VNF within a virtual machine;
comparing a health of the VNF to a plurality of thresholds; and
taking an action based on the comparing, the action comprising: alerting the node when the health is less than a first threshold of the plurality of thresholds and greater than a second threshold of the plurality of thresholds, throttling traffic to the VNF when the health is less than the second threshold and greater than a third threshold of the plurality of thresholds, or rerouting traffic to an alternate VNF when the health is less than the third threshold, wherein the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold are different values.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the cluster manager performs the alerting step.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the orchestrator performs the step of alerting.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the orchestrator performs the step of taking the action.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the step of instantiating includes instantiating the cluster manager in at least one virtual machine supporting the VNF.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the throttling of the traffic to the VNF comprises changing a weight factor for the traffic to reduce an amount of traffic to the VNF.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise:
subsequent to the taking of the action in accordance with the health being less than the first threshold and greater than the second threshold, detecting that the health is greater than the first threshold; and
based on the detecting, transmitting a signal to the node to restore a full amount of traffic to the VNF.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise:
subsequent to the taking of the action in accordance with the health being less than the third threshold, detecting that the health is greater than the third threshold and less than the second threshold; and
based on the detecting, transmitting a signal to the node to restore a portion of an amount of traffic to the VNF, the portion being less than a full amount of the traffic.

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• Seenappa Vikram
• Deccio Henry
• Tirumala Srikanth
• Mhatre Vivek

Classifications

• H04L41/40

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

• H04L43/0817

  by checking functioning · CPC title

• H04L43/20

  the monitoring system or the monitored elements being virtualised, abstracted or software-defined entities, e.g. SDN or NFV · CPC title

• H04W84/042

  Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems · CPC title

• H04L67/1029 Primary

  using data related to the state of servers by a load balancer · CPC title