System and Method for Generic Service NFV Orchestration and Management for Converged Services

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016105332-A1
Application number	US-201514881569-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 13, 2015
Priority date	Oct 14, 2014
Publication date	Apr 14, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system and method for network functions virtualization management and orchestration includes a virtualized infrastructure manager, a network functions virtualization orchestrator coupled to the virtualized infrastructure manager, a virtual network function manager coupled to the network functions virtualization orchestrator, one or more dedicated network services coupled to the network functions virtualization orchestrator, the one or more dedicated network services being orchestrated by the network functions virtualization orchestrator in accordance with a generic network service descriptor, and one or more dedicated network functions coupled to the virtual network function manager, the virtual network function manager configured to manage the dedicated network functions in accordance with a generic network function descriptor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A network functions virtualization management and orchestration (NFV-MANO) system comprising:
a virtualized infrastructure manager (VIM); a network functions virtualization orchestrator (NFVO) coupled to the VIM; a virtual network function manager (VNFM) coupled to the NFVO; one or more dedicated network services coupled to the NFVO, the one or more dedicated network services being orchestrated by the NFVO in accordance with a generic network service descriptor; and one or more dedicated network functions coupled to the VNFM, the VNFM configured to manage the dedicated network functions in accordance with a generic network function descriptor.

2 . The NFV-MANO system of claim 1 , wherein the VNFM comprises a common VNFM and a plurality of dedicated VNFMs.

3 . The NFV-MANO system of claim 2 , wherein the common VNFM is configured to:
receive the generic network function descriptor from the NFVO, the generic network function descriptor created in accordance with a dedicated VNFM of the plurality of dedicated VNFMs; and collaborate with the NFVO and the dedicated VNFM in accordance with the generic network service descriptor and the generic network function descriptor to create an end-to-end service.

4 . The NFV-MANO system of claim 3 , wherein the common VNFM and the NFVO communicate according to a first information model, and wherein the common VNFM and the dedicated VNFM communicate according a second information model, the first information model being a subset of the second information model.

5 . The NFV-MANO system of claim 1 , wherein the NFVO comprises a common NFVO and a plurality of dedicated NFVOs.

6 . The NFV-MANO system of claim 5 , wherein the common NFVO is configured to:
create the generic network service descriptor in accordance with a dedicated NFVO of the plurality of dedicated NFVOs; and collaborate with the VNFM and the dedicated NFVO in accordance with the generic network service descriptor and the generic network function descriptor to create an end-to-end service.

7 . The NFV-MANO system of claim 6 , wherein the common NFVO and the VNFM communicate according to a first information model, and wherein the common NFVO and the dedicated NFVO communicate according a second information model, the first information model being a subset of the second information model.

8 . The NFV-MANO system of claim 5 , wherein each of the plurality of dedicated NFVOs are configured to create a dedicated network service descriptor in accordance with the generic network service descriptor.

9 . The NFV-MANO system of claim 8 , wherein the dedicated network service descriptor is a mobile service defined by 3GPP.

10 . The NFV-MANO system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more dedicated network services are selected from the group consisting of 3GPP, cable, fixedline, TeleManagement Forum, Broadband Forum, and combinations thereof.

11 . The NFV-MANO system of claim 1 , wherein the NFVO comprises a resource NFVO in a first network and a service NFVO in a second network different from the first network.

12 . The NFV-MANO system of claim 1 , wherein the VIM, the NFVO, and the VNFM are each located on different devices in a network.

13 . A method for managing a virtual network comprising:
receiving a generic descriptor, the generic descriptor comprising a common management function; receiving an instruction to perform the common management function; and performing a dedicated management function in accordance with the instruction and the generic descriptor.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising creating an interface with a dedicated virtual network function manager (VNFM) in accordance with the generic descriptor.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the generic descriptor is one of a generic network service descriptor or a generic network function descriptor.

16 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising selecting a dedicated network service descriptor from a plurality of dedicated network service descriptors in accordance with the instruction.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising collaborating with the dedicated network service descriptor in accordance with the generic descriptor to create an end-to-end service.

18 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the generic descriptor comprises a first data model and the dedicated management function comprises a second data model, the first data model being a subset of the second data model.

19 . The method of claim 13 , wherein performing the dedicated management function comprises interfacing with one of a mobility management entity, a packet gateway, a serving gateway, and combinations thereof.

20 . A method for orchestrating a virtual network comprising:
receiving an instruction to orchestrate resources for a network service; allocating network function virtualization (NFV) infrastructure resources according to the instruction received; selecting a generic network service according to the NFV infrastructure resources allocated; and orchestrating a dedicated network service according to the selected generic network service.

21 . The method of claim 20 , further comprising notifying a management entity of the selected generic network service.

22 . The method of claim 21 , further comprising collaborating with the dedicated network service in accordance with the selected generic network service to create an end-to-end network service.

23 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the selected generic network service calls for a first data model and the dedicated network service calls for a second data model compatible with the first data model.

24 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the instructions are received from a virtual infrastructure manager in a first network and the NFV infrastructure resources are allocated in a second network different from the first network.

Assignees

• Futurewei Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Xiang Zhixian

Classifications

• H04L41/12

  Discovery or management of network topologies · 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

• H04L41/5045

  Making service definitions prior to deployment · CPC title

• H04L41/40

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

• H04L67/10

  in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46) · CPC title