JP2015512096A - Virtualized open wireless service software architecture - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and apparatus comprising a computer program product for a virtualized open wireless service software architecture. In the mobile network, the method monitors hardware resources for usage, receives a request to instantiate a service, selects hardware resources that are not fully utilized, and sufficient Mapping services to hardware resources that are not used for [Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates generally to wireless networks, and more specifically to a virtualized open wireless service software architecture.

  A wireless network typically includes many different functions that are mapped to different devices. For example, a 3G / 4G network includes a base station, a radio network controller (RNC), a serving GPRS support node (SGSN), a gateway GPRS support node (GGSC), a serving gateway (SGW), a packet data network gateway (PGW), mobile Management Entity (MME), Digital Telephone Interface (DPI) Probe, Traffic Analyzer, Firewall, Policy and Billing Rules Function (PCRF), Authentication and Accounting (AAA) Server, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) Database, Billing Server, Hypertext Includes transfer protocol (HTTP) proxy, traffic optimizer, video optimizer, and the like. As these wireless networks evolve, each additional function that is added requires the introduction of a new device that hosts that function or multiple hardware processors in the same device that hosts the different functions.

  The following presents a simplified summary of the innovation in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. This is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

  The present invention provides a method and apparatus including a computer program product for a virtualized open wireless service software architecture.

  In general, in one aspect, the invention receives a request to instantiate a service, selects a hardware resource that is not fully utilized, and services a hardware resource that is not fully utilized. And mapping.

  In another aspect, the present invention comprises a central processing unit and a memory, the memory including an operating system and a grid resource management process, wherein the grid resource management process is a hardware resource in a mobile network for use. Monitoring requests, receiving requests to instantiate services, selecting underutilized hardware resources, and mapping services to underutilized hardware resources A server including a memory.

  Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the claims.

The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
It is a block diagram. It is a block diagram. It is a flowchart.

  The subject innovation will now be described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used throughout to refer to like elements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It may be evident, however, that the invention can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing the present invention.

  As used in this application, the terms “component”, “system”, “platform”, etc. refer to computer-related components, or components related to an operable machine having one or more specific functionalities. Can point. The components disclosed herein can be either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or running software. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a server and the server can be a component. One or more components may exist in the course of execution and / or threads, components may be localized on one computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. A component may include one or more data packets (e.g., interoperating with other components in a local system, distributed system, and / or communicating with other systems via signals through a network such as the Internet, May communicate via local and / or remote processes, such as following a signal having data from one component).

  In addition, the term “or / or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or / or” rather than an exclusive “or / or”. That is, unless otherwise specified or apparent from the context, “X adopts A or / or B” is intended to mean a natural global substitution. That is, when X employs A, X employs B, or X employs both A and B, "X employs A or / or B" Is also satisfied under. Furthermore, the articles “a” and “an”, as used in the subject specification and accompanying drawings, generally refer to “one or more” unless otherwise specified or apparent from the context. Should be interpreted to mean.

  In addition, terms such as “user equipment”, “mobile station”, “mobile”, “subscriber station”, “communication device”, “access terminal”, “terminal”, “handset”, and similar terminology, A wireless device (e.g., a mobile phone, utilized by a subscriber or user of a wireless communication service to receive or communicate data, control, voice, video, sound, games, or virtually any data or signal stream Smart phone, computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), set top box, Internet protocol television (IPTV), electronic game device, printer, etc.). The foregoing terms are used interchangeably in the subject specification and the associated drawings. Similarly, the terms “access point”, “base station”, “node B”, “evolved node B”, “home node B (HNB)”, etc. are used interchangeably in the subject application, and data, Control, audio, video, sound, game, or wireless network component or device that supplies or receives virtually any data or signal stream from a series of subscriber stations. Data and signal streams can be packetized or flow in frames.

  Further, the terms “user”, “subscriber”, “customer”, etc. are used interchangeably throughout the subject specification unless the context requires specific distinction (s) between the terms. .

  In a distributed high availability environment where each hardware node in the network runs a mix of active and standby applications, and the standby applications do not require the same amount of physical resources as the active applications, physical resources (e.g., CPUs) , Memory, disk space, bandwidth) requirements are usually not considered when allocating applications running on hardware nodes. The standby application is backing up active applications that are distributed across the hardware collection, and only a subset of the applications can be active at any given time. This fact is not taken into account when assigning applications to hardware nodes, so there is an inherent underutilization of resources.

  For example, a wireless network typically includes many different functions that are mapped to different devices. Typical 3G / 4G networks are: base station (BS), RC, SGSN, GGSN, SGW, PGW, MME, DPI probe, traffic analyzer, firewall, PCRF, AAA server, LDAP database, billing server, HTTP proxy, traffic Optimizers, video optimizers, etc. can be included. As these networks evolve, each additional function that is added requires the introduction of a new device that hosts that function or multiple hardware processors in the same device that hosts a different function. This approach raises several major problems.

  This approach leads to insufficient use of resources. Since functions are mapped to processing resources in a relatively static manner, this potentially results in some devices not being fully utilized, some being overloaded and offloading overloaded devices. This leads to a situation where there is no flexibility to use processing resources that are not fully utilized.

  This method leads to scalability problems. As the demand for the network increases, each device must be scaled independently to manage the increased load, which is suboptimal from a cost standpoint. In addition, as new functions are added, new devices must be added to the network.

This method leads to management problems. The more devices there are, the more difficult it is to monitor and maintain them. Typically, each device has its own management interface, and integrating them into a single management platform is very complex.
Alternatively, the operator must deal with multiple management platforms.

  This approach leads to inflexibility in function ordering. Services between different terminals may require different ordering of functions. For example, one service may require a pre-charge for the firewall function and another service may require the reverse. Since these functions are on different devices, the ordering is a function of how they are wired and is therefore fairly static. Trying to change the order leads to multiple extra hops for traffic, which is very inefficient and also increases latency.

  This approach can lead to service instantiation complexity. Whenever a new service is introduced, multiple functions must be configured to instantiate end-to-end services. This is a cumbersome and error-prone process because configurations on multiple devices must be modified. In addition, mistakes in configuring one of these devices can affect existing services. Furthermore, the complexity associated with this process means that it takes a lot of effort and a lot of time from when a service is identified until it is actually executed. As a result, most operators only allow for highly profitable and long lasting services, services that are less profitable and can be of shorter duration (eg premium access to sporting events). Miss the opportunity to provide).

  This approach leads to a closed software environment. The software architecture of the devices that make up the network is specially designed by the vendors that provide them to support the functions for which they are built, so operators can use the processing resources of these platforms, It is closed in the sense that it cannot host any other function they want (related or not related to the original function). Even if an operator purchases processing resources, they are very limited in that these resources can be used.

  The invention described herein is characterized by the amount of physical resources required by the applications while they are in the active and standby roles, and distributes the active / standby process within a collection of hardware nodes. Map. This results in maximized hardware utilization by strategically allocating applications to run on the hardware nodes based on their physical resource requirements and high availability status.

  The invention described herein is independent of access technologies, including Global System for Mobile (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), WiMAX, etc. Applies to all wireless networks. For ease of explanation, the present invention is described in a 4G network environment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an exemplary mobile network 10 includes user equipment (UE) 12, such as a smartphone. Other examples of US12 include mobile phones, computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), set-top boxes, Internet protocol television (IPTV), electronic game devices, printers, tablets, WiFi hotspots, etc. It is not limited. The UE 12 is wirelessly linked to the evolved Node B (eNB) 14. The eNB 14 is a radio part of the cell site. A single eNB may contain several radio transmitters, receivers, control sections, and a power source. The eNB 14 is backhauled to the metro Ethernet ring 16, which includes a mobility management entity (MME) 18 and a serving gateway (SGW) 20. Backhaul is the process of transferring a packet or communication signal over a relatively long distance to a separate location for the process. The SGW 20 routes and forwards user data packets while also acting as a mobility anchor for the user plane during handover between eNodeBs.

  The SGW 20 is linked to the Internet Protocol (IP) backbone 22. The IP backbone 22 includes links to an online charging system (OCS) 24, an offline charging subsystem (OFCS) 26, and a policy control and charging function (PCRF) 28. In general, OCS 24 is a series of interconnected network elements that allow billing identification, evaluation, and posting in real time (or near real time). The OFCS 26 receives billing data in the form of call detail records (CDRs) and Diameter accounting messages from the network elements after the subscriber has incurred the use of network resources.

  The IP backbone 22 includes a network server 30 that implements a virtualized open radio service software architecture for 3G and 4G mobile networks. The network server 30 is linked to a web server 32 through an Internet service provider (ISP) 34.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the network server 30 includes one or more central processing units (CPUs) 50, 52, 54 and a memory 52. The memory 52 includes at least an operating system (OS) 54 such as Linux (registered trademark) and a grid resource management process 100. The grid resource management process 100 described below monitors hardware resources, determines their use over time, and determines software processes as hardware resources, eg, one or more central processing units (CPUs) 50, 52/54 are mapped / re-mapped according to their availability and utilization. In addition, the grid resource management process 100 can monitor the utilization of other hardware resources in the exemplary mobile network 10 and can map / remapping software processes to these other hardware resources, Enable open wireless service software architecture.

  Monitoring one or more CPUs 50, 52, 54 can be implemented in several ways. For example, in Linux OS, monitoring can be done using “mpstat” and other tools.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the grid resource management process 100 includes monitoring (102) hardware resources in a mobile network for use.

  The grid resource management process 100 receives a request to instantiate a service (104).

  Services that the grid resource management service 100 can intelligently map / remap to hardware resources are network firewall service, serving gateway (SGW) service, packet data network gateway (PGW) service, HTTP web proxy service, video Proxy services, service modules, etc. may be included.

  The SGW service routes and forwards user data packets and acts as an anchor for mobility between LTE and other 3GPP technologies.

  The PGW service provides connectivity from the user equipment to the external packet data network by being a gateway for traffic to the user equipment. The PGW service performs policy enforcement, packet filtering for each user, charging support, lawful intercept, and packet screening.

  The HTTP web proxy service functions as a relay unit for requests from clients searching for resources from other servers. The HTTP web proxy service provides web caching, web translation, and web transcoding.

  Video proxy services provide video caching, video translation, and video transcoding. In addition, this module provides related services, including content manipulation such as advertisement insertion, content splicing, or adaptive bit rate manifest file rewriting.

  The service module can be, for example, radius) / diameter, policy personal event protocol (PEP), packet forwarding, content filtering, session management, domain name system (DNS) service, access control, packet inspection, session duration, IP transport I / Several services such as O, billing function, policy strengthening function, traffic steering function, waiting time service function, etc. are provided.

  The billing function is based on flow characteristics such as the volume of the packet, the amount of time the flow is active, and the application associated with the flow as determined by shallow or deep packet inspection of the packet (s) in the flow, Mobile subscriptions on a per-flow basis by applying a differentiated billing plan or by analyzing other parameters associated with servicing the flow, such as flow heuristics (eg, signature analysis), or time of day Refers to the ability to selectively charge a subscriber and / or content partner.

  Policy enhancement refers to the ability to apply subscriber-related QoS and gating policies to subscriber flows on a per-flow basis, where flows are shallow or deep packet inspection, or heuristic analysis of flow patterns (eg, signature analysis) ).

  Latency service refers to the ability to measure network round trip latency between any selected subscriber or set of subscribers and a gateway function within the radio core.

  The grid resource management process 100 selects hardware resources that are not fully utilized (106).

  The grid resource management process 100 maps services to hardware resources that are not fully utilized (108).

  The grid resource management process 100 monitors the mapped hardware resources (110).

  The grid resource management process 100 remaps the service to another underutilized hardware resource when the mapped hardware resource is overutilized (112).

  Grid resource management process 100 provides an open and modular software architecture that maps wireless network functions to processing resources in a virtualized environment that can be run on any standard processor device such as a data center solution. . The grid resource management process 100 dynamically maps functions to available processor resources. Because the functions run in a virtual environment, they can be grouped together in different orders for different services. In addition to implementing standard wireless functions as virtualized software modules, the architecture also enables their own modules, both for operators, protocol analyzers, and for additional functions that they want to host on the platform. Makes it possible to plug in

  This architecture addresses the problems caused by old methods. Since the functions are virtual and can be mapped to processor resources at a granular level (on a process basis), the processor is allocated processor capacity in small increments to these functions. This maximizes the efficiency of processor usage because only the amount needed for the function is allocated.

  Since the distribution of functions to resources is performed dynamically little by little, each function expands as needed according to specific deployment needs and dynamically changing network conditions, applications, and user behavior. can do. In addition, processing resources are common, so it is easy to add additional resources to the platform when needed, and to distribute these resources to any function depending on the need for expansion. is there.

  Because multiple functions can be mapped to a single extensible platform with common resources, several functions can be hosted on the same platform. It is much easier to manage a single platform that operates multiple functions in an integrated manner than multiple platforms that operate a single function.

  Since the functions are operating in a virtualized environment as software processes on the same platform, they can be called in any order for any flow.

  There may be a single management interface for these functions that allows multiple functions to be easily combined in any order, facilitating end-to-end service instantiation. Service instantiation is a set of functions that are instantiated and organized in the desired order, as well as planning exercises and a service-aware configuration interface that allows the operator to specify a protocol analyzer for flow classification. And easy configuration through a service workflow. This allows operators to turn services on and off quickly and take advantage of short-term service opportunities.

  Creating a modular and virtualized environment is a plug-in for operators to plug in their own protocol analyzers and software functions and instantiate services using the service workflow mechanism. Enables a "service platform" that will allow the use of other modules.

  Various implementations of the systems and techniques described herein may be implemented in digital electronic circuits, integrated circuits, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and / or combinations thereof. Can be done. These various implementations are dedicated or general purpose, coupled to receive and transmit data and instructions to and from the storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device. Possible implementations may include implementations in one or more computer programs that are executable and / or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor.

  These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) contain machine instructions for programmable processors, in high-level procedural and / or object-oriented programming languages, and / or assembly / machine languages Can be implemented. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” and “computer-readable medium” refer to a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal. Any computer program product, apparatus, and / or device (eg, magnetic disk, optical disk, memory, programmable logic device (used to provide machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor) The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor.

  In order to provide interoperability with a user, the systems and techniques described herein include a display device (eg, a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor) for displaying information to the user. It can be implemented on a computer with a keyboard and pointing device (eg, a mouse or trackball) that can provide input to the computer. Other types of devices can also be used to provide interoperability with the user, for example, the feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback (eg, visual feedback, audio feedback, or Tactile feedback) and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, spoken language, or tactile input.

  The systems and techniques described herein include a back-end component (eg, a data server), or include a middleware component (eg, an application server), or a front-end component (eg, through which a user may Any of the backend, middleware, or frontend components in a computing system, including a graphical user interface or a client computer having a web browser) that can interoperate with the system and technology implementation described in Can be implemented in combination. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (eg, a communication network). Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), and the Internet.

  The computing system can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship between the client and the server is caused by a computer program that runs on each computer and has a client-server relationship with each other.

  The above description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all possible implementations consistent with this disclosure or all possible variations of the described implementations. Several implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the systems, devices, methods, and techniques described herein. For example, the various forms of flow shown above can be used with sorted, added, or deleted steps. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (19)

Monitoring hardware resources for use in mobile networks;
Receiving a request to instantiate a service;
Select hardware resources that are not fully utilized,
Mapping the service to the underutilized hardware resource.
Monitoring the mapped hardware resource;
The method of claim 1, further comprising remapping the service to another underutilized hardware resource when the mapped hardware resource is overutilized.
The service is selected from the group consisting of a network firewall service, a serving gateway (SGW) service, a packet data network gateway (PGW) service, an HTTP web proxy service, a video proxy service, a service module, and a custom service. The method described in 1.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the SGW service routes and forwards user data packets and acts as an anchor for mobility between LTE and other 3GPP technologies.
The method of claim 3, wherein the PGW service provides connectivity from the user equipment to an external packet data network by being a gateway for traffic to the user equipment.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the HTTP web proxy service functions as a relay unit for a request from a client searching for a resource from another server.
The method of claim 3, wherein the video proxy service provides video caching, video translation, and video transcoding.
The service module includes a radius / diameter service, a policy personal event protocol (PEP) service, a packet forwarding service, a content filtering service, a session management service, a domain name system (DNS) service, an access control service, a packet 4. The method of claim 3, selected from the group consisting of inspection service, session duration service, IP transport I / O service, charging function service, policy enhancement function service, traffic steering function service, and latency service function service. .
The method of claim 1, wherein the hardware resource is selected from the group consisting of a central processing unit (CPU), memory, disk space, and bandwidth.
A server,
A central processing unit;
A memory comprising an operating system and a grid resource management process, the grid resource management process comprising:
Monitoring hardware resources in the mobile network for use;
Receiving a request to instantiate a service;
Select hardware resources that are not fully utilized,
Mapping the service to the underutilized hardware resource. The server comprises a memory.
The grid resource management process monitoring the mapped hardware resources;
11. The server of claim 10, further comprising remapping the service to another underutilized hardware resource when the mapped hardware resource is overutilized.
11. The service is selected from the group consisting of a network firewall service, a serving gateway (SGW) service, a packet data network gateway (PGW) service, an HTTP web proxy service, a video proxy service, a service module, and a custom service. Server described in.
The server of claim 12, wherein the SGW service routes and forwards user data packets and serves as an anchor for mobility between LTE and other 3GPP technologies.
13. The server of claim 12, wherein the PGW service provides connectivity from the user equipment to an external packet data network by being a traffic gateway for the user equipment.
The server according to claim 12, wherein the HTTP web proxy service functions as a relay unit for a request from a client searching for a resource from another server.
The server of claim 12, wherein the video proxy service provides video caching, video translation, and video transcoding.
The service module includes a radius / diameter service, a policy personal event protocol (PEP) service, a packet forwarding service, a content filtering service, a session management service, a domain name system (DNS) service, an access control service, a packet 13. The server of claim 12, selected from the group consisting of inspection service, session duration service, IP transport I / O service, billing function service, policy enhancement function service, traffic steering function service, and latency service function service. .
The server of claim 10, wherein the hardware resource is selected from the group consisting of a central processing unit (CPU), memory, disk space, and bandwidth.
  The server of claim 10, wherein the service is selected from standby applications that back up active applications distributed across a hardware collection.

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