Method and apparatus for generating configuration information for a communication system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016330085-A1
Application number	US-201615214633-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 20, 2016
Priority date	Aug 7, 2006
Publication date	Nov 10, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method and apparatus for generating configuration information for a communication system is disclosed. An apparatus that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a network policy manager can have a collection element that receives a plurality of service component definitions associated with a corresponding plurality of services of a communication system, a service bundle generation element that generates a plurality of service bundles from the plurality of service component definitions, and a policy element that determines a network configuration for each of the plurality of service bundles. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A network policy manager, comprising:
a processing system including a processor; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
receiving a plurality of service component definitions associated with a corresponding plurality of services of a communication system, wherein the plurality of service component definitions includes a new service component definition;
generating permutations of service bundles derived from the plurality of service component definitions and according to network operating constraints, wherein the network operating constraints comprise a bandwidth capacity of the communication system;
determining a network configuration for each permutation of the permutations of the service bundles, wherein the network configuration of each permutation of the permutations of the service bundles comprises a plurality of network configuration components;
receiving an activation request associated with a select permutation of the permutations of service bundles;
determining if reusable network configuration components are available; and
generating additional service bundle permutations according to the new service component definition, wherein the generating comprises reusing network configuration components responsive to determining that the reusable network configuration components are available,
wherein the network configuration for each permutation of the permutations of service bundles comprises one of a Quality of Service policy, a security policy, a queuing policy, or a portal redirect policy.

2 . The network policy manager of claim 1 , wherein each of the service component definitions comprises business rules for configuring the service associated with the service component definition.

3 . The network policy manager of claim 1 , wherein the network operating constraints comprise a network topology of the communication system.

4 . The network policy manager of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of services comprise one of a voice over internet protocol service, an internet protocol television service, an Internet service, or a portal service.

5 . The network policy manager of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
storing the network configuration for each permutation of the permutations of service bundles; and retrieving the network configuration associated with the select permutation of the permutations of service bundles as a retrieved network configuration.

6 . The network policy manager of claim 5 , wherein the operations further comprise configuring the communication system according to the retrieved network configuration.

7 . The network policy manager of claim 1 , wherein the determining the network configuration further comprises determining a network configuration for each of the additional service bundle permutations.

8 . The network policy manager of claim 1 , wherein the receiving the plurality of service component definitions further comprises receiving a modified service component definition.

9 . The network policy manager of claim 8 , wherein the determining a network configuration further comprises updating network configurations affected by the modified service component definition.

10 . A non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
generating permutations of service bundles from a plurality of service component definitions associated with a corresponding plurality of services of a communication system and according to known network operating constraints, wherein the network operating constraints correspond to one of a bandwidth capacity of the communication system or a network topology of the communication system; determining a network configuration for each permutation of the permutations of service bundles according to the plurality of service component definitions, wherein the network configuration of each service bundle comprises a plurality of network configuration components; receiving an activation request associated with a select permutations of the permutations of service bundles for a select customer; receiving a new service component definition; determining if reusable network configuration components are available; and generating additional service bundles according to the new service component definition by reusing network configuration components responsive to determining that the reusable network configuration components are available, wherein the network configuration for each permutation of the permutations of service bundles comprises one of a Quality of Service policy, a security policy, a queuing policy, or a portal redirect policy.

11 . The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein each of the service component definitions comprises business rules for configuring the service associated with the service component definition.

12 . The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of services comprise one of a voice over internet protocol service, an internet protocol television service, an Internet service, or a portal service.

13 . The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:
storing the network configuration for each permutation of the permutations of service bundles according to an identifier associated with each permutation of the permutations of service bundles; and retrieving the network configuration associated with the select permutation according to a corresponding identifier for the select permutation as a retrieved network configuration.

14 . The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise configuring the communication system according to the retrieved network configuration for the select customer.

15 . The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise determining a network configuration for each of the additional service bundles by reusing a respective one of the plurality of network configuration components.

16 . The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving an activation request associated with a select permutation of the permutations of service bundles.

17 . The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise generating a new network configuration responsive to the determining if reusable network configuration components are not available.

18 . A method, comprising:
generating, by a processing system comprising a processor, permutations of service bundles derived from a plurality of service component definitions associated with a corresponding plurality of services of a communication system and according to network operating constraints, wherein the network operating constraints correspond to one of a bandwidth capacity of the communication system or a network topology of the communication system; generating, by the processing system, a network configuration for each one of the permutations of service bundles, wherein the network configuration of each service bundle comprises a plurality of network configuration components; receiving, by the processing system, an activation request associated with a

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• Pok Chou Lan
• Raftelis Michael

Classifications

• H04L41/0894

  Policy-based network configuration management · CPC title

• H04L41/0893

  Assignment of logical groups to network elements · 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

• H04L41/5003

  Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS · CPC title

• H04L41/5048 Primary

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