Interworking of legacy appliances in virtualized networks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11469953-B2
Application number	US-201715716890-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 27, 2017
Priority date	Sep 27, 2017
Publication date	Oct 11, 2022
Grant date	Oct 11, 2022

Abstract

A computing apparatus, including: a hardware platform; and an interworking broker function (IBF) hosted on the hardware platform, the IBF including a translation driver (TD) associated with a legacy network appliance lacking native interoperability with an orchestrator, the IBF configured to: receive from the orchestrator a network function provisioning or configuration command for the legacy network appliance; operate the TD to translate the command to a format consumable by the legacy network appliance; and forward the command to the legacy network appliance.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computing apparatus, comprising:
a hardware platform comprising a processor and a memory; and
instructions encoded within the memory to instruct the processor to:
receive from a network function virtualization (NFV) orchestrator a provisioning or configuration command for a legacy network appliance;
translate the command to a format consumable by the legacy network appliance; and
forward the command to the legacy network appliance.

2. The computing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the NFV orchestrator is a management and orchestration (MANO)-compliant orchestrator.

3. The computing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising instructions to receive a message from the legacy network appliance, and translate the message into a format consumable by the NFV orchestrator.

4. The computing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the message is an internet protocol (IP) packet.

5. The computing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the message is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) or frame relay message.

6. The computing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the message is an alert, event, or telemetry message.

7. The computing apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the alert or event comprises a simple network management protocol (SNMP) trap.

8. The computing apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the alert or event comprises an internet protocol flow information export (IPFIX).

9. The computing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the message is an SNMP format message.

10. The computing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the message is a simple object access protocol (SOAP), extensible markup language (XML), or JavaScript object notation (JSON) message.

11. The computing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the message is a network configuration (NETCONF) message.

12. The computing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the message is a command line interface (CLI) command.

13. The computing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further to:
scan the network for the legacy network appliance;
query the legacy network appliance for capability information or a messaging format; and
build a translation layer based on the capability information or messaging format.

14. The computing apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the capability information or messaging format comprises management information base (MIB) information.

15. The computing apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the instructions are further to associate the legacy network appliance with the translation layer.

16. The computing apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the instructions are further to notify the NFV orchestrator of the legacy network appliance.

17. One or more tangible, non-transitory computer-readable mediums having stored thereon instructions to:
receive from a network function virtualization (NFV) orchestrator a provisioning or configuration command for a legacy network appliance;
translate the command to a format consumable by the legacy network appliance; and
forward the command to the legacy network appliance.

18. The one or more tangible, non-transitory computer-readable mediums of claim 17 , wherein the NFV orchestrator is a management and orchestration (MANO)-compliant orchestrator.

19. The one or more tangible, non-transitory computer-readable mediums of claim 17 , wherein the instructions are further to receive a message from the legacy network appliance, and translate the message into a format consumable by the NFV orchestrator.

20. The one or more tangible, non-transitory computer-readable mediums of claim 17 , wherein the instructions are further to:
scan the network for the legacy network appliance;
query the legacy network appliance for capability information or a messaging format; and
build a translation layer based on the capability information or messaging format.

21. The one or more tangible, non-transitory computer-readable mediums of claim 20 , wherein the capability information or messaging format comprises management information base (MIB) information.

22. The one or more tangible, non-transitory computer-readable mediums of claim 20 , wherein the instructions are further to associate the legacy network appliance with the translation layer.

23. The one or more tangible, non-transitory computer-readable mediums of claim 20 , wherein the instructions are further configured to notify the NFV orchestrator of the legacy network appliance.

24. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
receiving from a network function virtualization (NFV) orchestrator a provisioning or configuration command for a legacy network appliance;
translating the command to a format consumable by the legacy network appliance; and
forwarding the command to the legacy network appliance.

25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the NFV orchestrator is a management and orchestration (MANO)-compliant orchestrator.

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Browne John J
• Verrall Timothy
• Tahhan Maryam
• Mcgrath Michael J
• Harte Sean
• Devey Kevin
• Kenny Jonathan
• Macnamara Christopher

Classifications

• H04L41/0886

  Fully automatic configuration · CPC title

• H04L41/0897

  by horizontal or vertical scaling of resources, or by migrating entities, e.g. virtual resources or entities · CPC title

• H04L41/0895 Primary

  Configuration of virtualised networks or elements, e.g. virtualised network function or OpenFlow elements · CPC title

• H04L41/0806

  for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play · CPC title

• H04L41/0823

  characterised by the purposes of a change of settings, e.g. optimising configuration for enhancing reliability (for optimising operational conditions of wireless networks H04W24/02) · CPC title