Method and apparatus for network function virtualization

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016366014-A1
Application number	US-201615176761-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 8, 2016
Priority date	Jun 9, 2015
Publication date	Dec 15, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for network function virtualization, which may allow services of VNF components logically and physically distributed in a VNF instance to be shared with another VNF instance in a NFV environment without any separate component such as a load balancer. The method for network function virtualization includes: configuring one or plural virtual network function (VNF) instances including one or plural shared virtual network function (VNF) components and one or plural VNF instances including one or plural non-shared VNF components, generating a descriptor including attribute information of the one or plural shared VNF components, and providing the descriptor to a VNF instance which is to use the shared VNF component.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of network function virtualization, comprising:
configuring at least one virtual network function (VNF) instance comprising at least one shared virtual network function (VNF) component and at least one VNF instance having at least one non-shared VNF component; generating a descriptor comprising attribute information of the shared VNF component; and transmitting the descriptor to another VNF instance configured to utilize the shared VNF component.

2 . The method of network function virtualization according to claim 1 ,
wherein the descriptor is generated for each shared VNF component.

3 . The method of network function virtualization according to claim 1 ,
wherein attribute information of at least two shared VNF components is stored in a single descriptor.

4 . The method of network function virtualization according to claim 3 ,
wherein the descriptor is generated for each VNF instance comprising the shared VNF component.

5 . The method of network function virtualization according to claim 2 ,
wherein the descriptor is unique to the corresponding VNF instance.

6 . The method of network function virtualization according to claim 1 , further comprising:
setting an access authority to the shared VNF component of the VNF instance.

7 . The method of network function virtualization according to claim 6 ,
wherein the access authority comprises at least one of a routing policy, a firewall policy, and a security policy.

8 . The method of network function virtualization according to claim 1 ,
wherein in response to determining that a new descriptor for a VNF instance overlaps with the shared VNF component included in the descriptor, the generating of the new descriptor to the corresponding VNF instance is blocked.

9 . The method of network function virtualization according to claim 1 , further comprising: in response to changing the shared VNF component, transmitting an update command of the corresponding descriptor to the VNF instance which includes the descriptor for the changed shared VNF component.

10 . The method of network function virtualization according to claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to a validity term of the descriptor expiring, transmitting a delete command for the corresponding descriptor to the VNF instance to which the corresponding descriptor is provided, and changing an access authority to the shared VNF component.

11 . An apparatus of network function virtualization, comprising:
at least one processor; and a memory coupled the at least one processor, wherein the memory stores program instructions which are executable by the at least one processor to: configure at least one virtual network function (VNF) instance comprising at least one shared virtual network function (VNF) component and at least one VNF instance comprising at least one non-shared VNF component; generate a descriptor comprising attribute information of the shared VNF component; and transmitting the descriptor to another VNF instance configured to utilize the shared VNF component.

12 . The apparatus of network function virtualization according to claim 11 ,
wherein the program instructions are executable to generate the descriptor for each shared VNF component.

13 . The apparatus of network function virtualization according to claim 11 ,
wherein the program instructions are executable to generate the descriptor to comprise attribute information of at least two shared VNF components in a single descriptor.

14 . The apparatus of network function virtualization according to claim 13 ,
wherein the program instructions are executable to generate the descriptor for each VNF instance including the shared VNF component.

15 . The apparatus of network function virtualization according to claim 12 ,
wherein the descriptor provided to a VNF instance is unique to the corresponding VNF instance.

16 . The apparatus of network function virtualization according to claim 11 ,
wherein the program instructions are further executable to set an access authority to the shared VNF component of the VNF instance to which the descriptor is provided.

17 . The apparatus of network function virtualization according to claim 16 ,
wherein the access authority comprises at least one of: a routing policy, a firewall policy, and a security policy.

18 . The apparatus of network function virtualization according to claim 11 ,
wherein in response to determining that a new descriptor of a VNF instance overlaps with the at least one shared VNF component included in the descriptor, the program instructions are executable to block the generating of the new descriptor to the corresponding VNF instance.

19 . The apparatus of network function virtualization according to claim 11 ,
wherein in response to changing the shared VNF component, the program instructions are executable to transmit an update command of the corresponding descriptor to the VNF instance which includes the changed shared VNF component.

20 . The apparatus of network function virtualization according to claim 11 ,
wherein in response to a validity term of the descriptor expiring, the program instructions are executable to transmit a delete command for the corresponding descriptor to the VNF instance to which the corresponding descriptor is provided, and change an access authority to the shared VNF component.

21 . A system of network function virtualization, comprising:
an apparatus configured to provide network function virtualization by configuring at least one virtual network function (VNF) instance comprising at least one shared virtual network function (VNF) component and at least one VNF instance comprising at least one VNF component; a gateway configured to manage access of the at least one peer VNF instance to the at least one VNF component, wherein the apparatus transmits a command to generate a descriptor comprising attribute information of the shared VNF component, transmits the generated descriptor to the peer VNF instance, and sets an access authority to the gateway based on the descriptor.

22 . The system of network function virtualization according to claim 21 ,
wherein the apparatus is further configured to generate the descriptor for each shared VNF component.

23 . The system of network function virtualization according to claim 21 ,
wherein the apparatus is further configured to generate a single descriptor comprising attribute information of at least two shared VNF components.

24 . The system of network function virtualization according to claim 23 ,
wherein the apparatus is further configured to generate the descriptor for each VNF instance comprising the shared VNF component.

25 . The system of network function virtualization according to claim 21 ,
wherein the gateway is implemented in the VNF instance having the VNF component.

26 . The method of network function virtualization according to claim 1 ,
wherein the attribute information of the shared VNF component comprises at least one of: identification information, role information, state information, authority information, notification information, and session information of the shared VNF component.

Assignees

• Kt Corp

Inventors

• Koo Bum-Mo

Classifications

• G06F9/45558 Primary

  Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects · CPC title

• H04L41/0813

  characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings · CPC title

• H04L12/4641 Primary

  Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] (LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272) · CPC title

• G06F2009/45595

  Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances · CPC title

• H04L41/0803 Primary

  Configuration setting · CPC title