Communication system, provider node, communication node, and method for providing a virtual network function to a customer node

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021314224-A1
Application number	US-201917260425-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 16, 2019
Priority date	Aug 7, 2018
Publication date	Oct 7, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

The disclosure is directed to providing virtual network functions to a customer node by a communication system with a provider node in an automatic, traceable, and auditable way. The provider node includes a retrieving module, a validation module, and a deployment module. The retrieving module is configured to retrieve a notification signal, wherein the notification signal is indicative of a selected one of a plurality of virtual network functions and the customer node. The validation module is configured to establish service level agreement data and to validate the agreement service level data, based on the notification signal. The deployment module is configured to selectively transmit a deployment signal to a communication node depending on the validation of the service level agreement data for providing the selected virtual network function to the customer node.

First claim

1 . A provider node comprising:
a retrieving module configured to retrieve a notification signal, the notification signal being indicative of a selected virtual network function of a plurality of virtual network functions and at least one customer node to which the selected virtual network function is to be provided, wherein the retrieving module is further configured to retrieve, from a trusted database or a data repository system, at least one of a configuration of the selected virtual network function and a template of the selected virtual network function; a validation module configured to establish service level agreement data, the service level agreement data at least representing the configuration of the selected virtual network function and the at least one customer node; and a deployment module configured to establish a deployment signal based on the service level agreement data and the template of the selected virtual network function, and to transmit the deployment signal to a communication node for providing the selected virtual network function to the at least one customer node.

2 . The provider node of claim 1 , wherein the retrieving module is further configured to retrieve the notification signal from the trusted database.

3 . The provider node of claim 1 , wherein the trusted database is a distributed database, and
wherein the retrieving module is further configured to retrieve the configuration of the selected virtual network function from the distributed database and the template of the selected virtual network function from the data repository system.

4 . The provider node of claim 1 , wherein the validation module is further configured establish validation data by validating the service level agreement data based on the notification signal,
wherein the notification signal is further indicative of hardware requirements and functional parameters for the providing of the selected virtual network function, and wherein the deployment module is configured to selectively transmit the deployment signal depending on the validation data.

5 . A communication node comprising:
a receiving module configured to receive a deployment signal indicative of at least one customer node, a selected one of a plurality of virtual network functions, a configuration of a selected virtual network function, and a template of the selected virtual network function; and a management module configured, for providing the selected virtual network function according to the configuration to the at least one customer node, to instantiate the selected virtual network function based on the template and the configuration of the selected virtual network function.

6 . The communication node of claim 5 , further comprising:
a state reporting module configured to determine status report data, the status report data being indicative of whether the selected virtual network function and according to which configuration is provided to the at least one customer node, and to transmit the status report data to a trusted database.

7 . The communication node of claim 5 , further comprising:
a retrieving module, wherein the retrieving module is configured to retrieve the template of the selected virtual network function from a data repository system.

8 . A communication system comprising:
a factory node; a provider node comprising:
a retrieving module configured to retrieve a notification signal, the notification signal being indicative of a selected virtual network function of a plurality of virtual network functions and at least one customer node to which the selected virtual network function is to be provided, wherein the retrieving module is further configured to retrieve, from a trusted database or a data repository system, at least one of a configuration of the selected virtual network function and a template of the selected virtual network function;
a validation module configured to establish service level agreement data, the service level agreement data at least representing the configuration of the selected virtual network function and the at least one customer node; and
a deployment module configured to establish a deployment signal based on the service level agreement data and the template of the selected virtual network function, and to transmit the deployment signal to a communication node for providing the selected virtual network function to the at least one customer node; and
a communication node comprising:
a receiving module configured to receive a deployment signal indicative of at least one customer node, a selected one of a plurality of virtual network functions, a configuration of the selected virtual network function, and a template of the selected virtual network function; and
a management module configured, for providing the selected virtual network function according to its configuration to the at least one customer node, to instantiate the selected virtual network function based on the template and the configuration of the selected virtual network function; and
wherein the deployment module of the provider node is further configured to transmit the deployment signal to the factory node, wherein the factory node is configured to retrieve the template of the selected virtual network function from the data repository system and at least one of the configuration of the selected virtual network function, the service level agreement data, an indication of the selected virtual network function, an indication of the communication node and an indication of the at least one customer node from the trusted database, wherein the factory node is further configured to generate a runnable instance of the selected virtual network function based on the template and configuration of the selected virtual network function, based on the indication of the selected virtual network function, the at least one customer node and the communication node, and based on the service level agreement data, wherein the retrieving module of the communication node is configured to retrieve the runnable instance, and wherein the management module of the communication node is configured to instantiate the selected virtual network function based on the runnable instance.

9 . The communication system of claim 8 , wherein the validation module of the provider node is further configured to establish validation data and to store the validation data in the trusted database, and
wherein the factory node is configured to selectively generate the runnable instance depending on the validation data.

10 . The communication system of claim 8 , wherein the factory node ( 160 ) is further configured to generate a digital signature of the runnable instance and to store the digital signature in the trusted database,
wherein the retrieving module of the communication node is configured to retrieve the digital signature of the runnable instance from the trusted database, and wherein the management module of the communication node is configured to validate the runnable instance against the digital signature, and to selectively instantiate the selected virtual network function depending on the validating of the runnable instance.

11 . The communication system of claim 8 , wherein the configuration of the selected virtual network function comprises an internal configuration and an interface configuration,
wherein the internal configuration is used for generating the runnable instance by the factory node, and wherein the interface configuration is used for instantiating the selected virtual network function by the management module.

12 . A customer node for a data network, wherein the data network is confi

Assignees

• Siemens Ag

Inventors

• Sauer Markus
• Zeiger Florian

Classifications

• H04L41/40 Primary

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

• H04L41/0843

  based on generic templates · CPC title

• H04L41/5029

  Service quality level-based billing, e.g. dependent on measured service level customer is charged more or less · CPC title

• H04L41/0846 Primary

  based on copy from other elements · CPC title

• H04L41/0853

  by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information · CPC title