CN108880833B

CN108880833B - Method, device and system for acquiring information of physical network function resources

Info

Publication number: CN108880833B
Application number: CN201710318887.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李响; 段然; 白常明
Original assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Current assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Priority date: 2017-05-08
Filing date: 2017-05-08
Publication date: 2021-08-06
Anticipated expiration: 2037-05-08
Also published as: CN108880833A

Abstract

The invention discloses a method, a device and a system for acquiring information of physical network function resources, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the VNFM receives a PNF resource acquisition request sent by the NFVO through a first PNF resource information management interface of the VNFM and the NFVO, wherein the PNF resource acquisition request carries first identification information of the EM; sending a PNF resource acquisition request to the EM through a second PNF resource information management interface of the EM and the EM; and receiving PNF resource response information sent by the EM through a second PNF resource information management interface, and sending the PNF resource response information to the NFVO through a first PNF resource information management interface, wherein the PNF resource response information carries information of PNF resources managed by the EM. The NFVO in the MANO can obtain the information of the PNF resource, so that the MANO can manage and arrange the PNF resource.

Description

Method, device and system for acquiring information of physical network function resources

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of mobile communications, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, and a system for acquiring information of physical network function resources.

Background

The field of mobile communication provides a new green-evolution wireless Network architecture-Cloud-Radio Access Network (C-RAN) to guide the development of the future centralized baseband processing Network architecture technology. In the C-RAN Network architecture, a part of Network functions is virtualized by software and hardware decoupling and Function abstraction, and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) architecture is adopted to implement Network implementation.

However, there are a lot of Physical Network Function (PNF) resources on the Radio Access Network (RAN) side, which have a close dependence on hardware. Generally, these PNF resources mainly include Distributed Units (DUs) and Radio Remote Units (RRUs), and these PNF resources are undoubtedly also a part that the network management system should manage.

In the prior art, the NFV network adopts an European Telecommunications Standardization Institute (ETSI) Management And Organization (MANO) architecture to perform soft, hard, And virtual three-layer decoupled network resource Organization Management. The MANO mainly comprises: virtual Infrastructure Management (VIM), Virtualized Network Function Manager (VNFM), and Network Function Virtualization controller (NFVO). The VIM is responsible for functions such as Network Function Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI) resource identification and allocation, the VNFM is responsible for Virtual Network Function (VNF) lifecycle management, and the NFVO is responsible for Network orchestration management.

Infrastructure resources which can be identified by the VIM are mainly general hardware resources such as x86, but PNF resources such as RAN side DU and RRU cannot be identified, so that the NFVO does not have whole network deployment capability. The VNFM can acquire VNF resource information but cannot acquire PNF resource information. That is, the MANO cannot acquire the PNF resource information, which results in that the PNF resource cannot be managed and scheduled.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a method, a device and a system for acquiring information of physical network function resources, which are used for solving the problem that PNF resources cannot be managed and arranged due to the fact that MANO cannot acquire PNF resource information in the prior art.

In order to solve the above problem, according to an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for acquiring information of a physical network function resource, the method including:

a Virtualized Network Function Manager (VNFM) receives a PNF resource acquisition request sent by a network function virtualization controller (NFVO) through a first physical network function PNF resource information management interface of the VNFM and the NFVO, wherein the PNF resource acquisition request carries first identification information of a network Element Management (EM);

sending the PNF resource acquisition request to the EM through a second PNF resource information management interface of the EM of the first identification information and the EM;

and receiving PNF resource response information sent by the EM through the second PNF resource information management interface, and sending the PNF resource response information to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface, wherein the PNF resource response information carries information of the PNF resources managed by the EM.

Further, the PNF resource acquisition request also carries second identification information of the PNF resource to be acquired, and the PNF resource response information carries information of the PNF resource of the second identification information in the PNF resource managed by the EM.

Further, after the sending the PNF resource response information to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface, the method further includes:

receiving a subscription request sent by the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface, and sending first subscription response information aiming at the subscription request to the NFVO, wherein the subscription request carries the first identification information of the EM;

sending the subscription request to the EM of the first identification information through the second PNF resource information management interface, and receiving second subscription response information sent by the EM and aiming at the subscription request.

Further, the method further comprises:

receiving a subscription cancellation request sent by the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface, and sending first subscription cancellation response information for the subscription cancellation request to the NFVO, where the subscription cancellation request carries first identification information of the EM;

sending the unsubscribe request to the EM of the first identification information through the second PNF resource information management interface, and receiving second unsubscribe response information which is sent by the EM and aims at the unsubscribe request.

Further, the method further comprises:

receiving a PNF resource information change notification sent by the EM through the second PNF resource information management interface, wherein the PNF resource information change notification carries information of PNF resources which are managed by the EM and changed in the PNF resources;

and sending the PNF resource information change notice to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface so that the NFVO updates the information of the PNF resources managed by the EM according to the PNF resource information change notice.

Further, the subscription request also carries third identification information of the PNF resource to be subscribed, and the PNF resource information change notification carries information after the PNF resource of the third identification information is changed.

Further, the first PNF resource information management interface is arranged at an Or-Vnfm reference point, and the second PNF resource information management interface is arranged at a Ve-Vnfm-em reference point.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a method for acquiring information of a physical network function resource, the method including:

a network Element Management (EM) receives a Physical Network Function (PNF) resource acquisition request sent by a Virtual Network Function (VNFM) through a second PNF resource information management interface of the EM and the VNFM, wherein the PNF resource acquisition request is received by the VNFM through a first PNF resource information management interface of the VNFM and a network function virtualization controller (NFVO), and the PNF resource acquisition request carries first identification information of the EM;

and acquiring information of self-managed PNF resources, and sending PNF resource response information carrying the information of the self-managed PNF resources to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface so that the VNFM sends the PNF resource response information to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface.

Further, the PNF resource acquisition request also carries second identification information of the PNF resource to be acquired, and the acquiring information of the PNF resource managed by the acquiring device includes:

acquiring the information of the PNF resource of the second identification information in the PNF resources managed by the EM;

the sending PNF resource response information carrying information of PNF resources managed by itself to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface includes:

and sending PNF resource response information of the PNF resource information carrying the second identification information to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

Further, the method further comprises:

receiving a subscription request sent by the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface, wherein the subscription request is sent to the VNFM by the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface, and the subscription request carries the first identification information of the EM;

and generating second subscription response information aiming at the subscription request, and sending the second subscription response information to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

Further, the method further comprises:

receiving a subscription cancellation request sent by the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface, wherein the subscription cancellation request is sent to the VNFM by the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface, and the subscription cancellation request carries the first identification information of the EM;

and generating second unsubscribe response information aiming at the unsubscribe request, and sending the second unsubscribe response information to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

Further, the method further comprises:

if the information of the PNF resources managed by the EM is changed, generating a PNF resource information change notice, wherein the PNF resource information change notice carries the information of the PNF resources managed by the EM, of which the PNF resources are changed;

and sending the PNF resource information change notice to a VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface so that the VNFM sends the PNF resource information change notice to the NFVO.

Further, the information of the PNF resource in which the EM managed PNF resource is changed includes at least one of:

the information of the EM-managed PNF resource after the information change, the information of the EM-managed newly added PNF resource, and the information of the EM-managed deleted PNF resource.

Further, the subscription request further carries third identification information of a PNF resource to be subscribed, and after the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM is changed and before the PNF resource information change notification is generated, the method further includes:

judging whether the changed PNF resource is the PNF resource of the third identification information;

if yes, the subsequent steps are carried out.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for acquiring information of a physical network function resource, including:

a first receiving module, configured to receive, through a virtualized network function manager VNFM and a first physical network function PNF resource information management interface of a network function virtualized controller NFVO, a PNF resource acquisition request sent by the NFVO, where the PNF resource acquisition request carries first identification information of a network element management EM;

a sending module, configured to send the PNF resource acquisition request to the EM through a VNFM and a second PNF resource information management interface of the EM of the first identification information;

the first receiving module is further configured to receive PNF resource response information sent by the EM through the second PNF resource information management interface, where the PNF resource response information carries information of the PNF resource managed by the EM;

the sending module is further configured to send the PNF resource response information to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface.

Further, the first receiving module is further configured to receive, through the first PNF resource information management interface, a subscription request sent by the NFVO, where the subscription request carries the first identifier information of the EM;

the sending module is further configured to send first subscription response information for the subscription request to the NFVO;

the sending module is further configured to send the subscription request to the EM of the first identification information through the second PNF resource information management interface;

the first receiving module is further configured to receive second subscription response information, which is sent by the EM and is for the subscription request.

Further, the first receiving module is further configured to receive, through the first PNF resource information management interface, a unsubscribe request sent by the NFVO;

the sending module is further configured to send first unsubscribe response information for the unsubscribe request to the NFVO, where the unsubscribe request carries the first identification information of the EM;

the sending module is further configured to send the unsubscribe request to the EM of the first identification information through the second PNF resource information management interface;

the first receiving module is further configured to receive second unsubscribe response information, which is sent by the EM and is for the unsubscribe request.

Further, the first receiving module is further configured to receive, through the second PNF resource information management interface, a PNF resource information change notification sent by the EM, where the PNF resource information change notification carries information of a PNF resource that is managed by the EM and has a PNF resource changed;

the sending module is further configured to send the PNF resource information change notification to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface, so that the NFVO updates the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM according to the PNF resource information change notification.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for acquiring information of a physical network function resource, the apparatus including:

a second receiving module, configured to receive a PNF resource acquisition request through a second physical network function PNF resource information management interface of a network element management EM and a virtualized network function manager VNFM, where the PNF resource acquisition request is received by the VNFM through the VNFM itself and a first PNF resource information management interface of a network function virtualized controller NFVO, and the PNF resource acquisition request carries first identification information of the EM;

and the processing and sending module is configured to acquire the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM, and send PNF resource response information carrying the information of the PNF resource managed by the processing and sending module to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface, so that the VNFM sends the PNF resource response information to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface.

Further, the second receiving module is further configured to receive, through the second PNF resource information management interface, a subscription request sent by the VNFM, where the subscription request is sent by the NFVO to the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface, and the subscription request carries the first identifier information of the EM;

the processing and sending module is further configured to generate second subscription response information for the subscription request, and send the second subscription response information to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

Further, the second receiving module is further configured to receive, through the second PNF resource information management interface, a unsubscribe request sent by the VNFM, where the unsubscribe request is sent by the NFVO to the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface, and the unsubscribe request carries the first identifier information of the EM;

the processing and sending module is further configured to generate second unsubscribe response information for the unsubscribe request, and send the second unsubscribe response information to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

Further, the processing and sending module is further configured to generate a PNF resource information change notification if the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM is changed, where the PNF resource information change notification carries the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM, which is changed; and sending the PNF resource information change notice to a VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface so that the VNFM sends the PNF resource information change notice to the NFVO.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a system for acquiring information of a physical network function resource, the system including:

the apparatus for acquiring information of a physical network function resource, applied to the virtualized network function manager VNFM, as described in any one of the above, the apparatus for acquiring information of a physical network function resource, applied to the network element management EM, and the network function virtualization controller NFVO, as described in any one of the above.

The invention has the following beneficial effects:

in the method, a VNFM receives a PNF resource acquisition request sent by an NFVO through a first PNF resource information management interface of the VNFM and the NFVO, wherein the PNF resource acquisition request carries identification information of EM; sending the PNF resource acquisition request to the EM through a second PNF resource information management interface of the EM and the EM; and receiving a PNF resource response sent by the EM through the second PNF resource information management interface, and sending the PNF resource response to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface, wherein the PNF resource response carries information of the PNF resources managed by the EM. In the embodiment of the invention, the VNFM and the NFVO transmit the information of the PNF resource through the first PNF resource information management interface and the VNFM and the EM transmit the information of the PNF resource through the second PNF resource information management interface, so that the NFVO in the MANO can obtain the information of the PNF resource, and the MANO can manage and arrange the PNF resource.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a method for acquiring information of a PNF resource according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a method for acquiring information of a PNF resource according to embodiment 2 of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a subscription process of information of a PNF resource according to embodiment 3 of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a notification process of a method for acquiring information of a PNF resource according to embodiment 3 of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a method for acquiring information of a PNF resource according to embodiment 6 of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a method for acquiring information of a PNF resource according to embodiment 7 of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a subscription process of information of a PNF resource according to embodiment 8 of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a notification process of a method for acquiring information of a PNF resource according to embodiment 8 of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a notification process of a method for acquiring information of a PNF resource according to embodiment 9 of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for acquiring information of a PNF resource according to embodiment 11 of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for acquiring information of a PNF resource according to embodiment 12 of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of a system for acquiring information of a PNF resource according to embodiment 13 of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a schematic application diagram of a system for acquiring information of PNF resources in a C-RAN network architecture according to embodiment 13 of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to enable the MANO to acquire the information of the PNF resource and facilitate the management and arrangement of the PNF resource, embodiments of the present invention provide a method, an apparatus, and a system for acquiring information of a physical network function resource.

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Example 1:

the embodiment of the invention provides a method for acquiring information of PNF resources, which comprises the following steps as shown in figure 1:

s11: the method includes the steps that a VNFM receives a PNF resource acquisition request sent by an NFVO through a first PNF resource information Management interface of the VNFM and the NFVO, wherein the PNF resource acquisition request carries first identification information of Element Management (EM).

The method for acquiring the information of the PNF resource provided by the embodiment of the invention is applied to the following steps: the network architecture of MANO and EM is preferably C-RAN network architecture.

The method includes the steps that a first PNF resource information management interface is arranged between the VNFM and the NFVO, so that the VNFM and the NFVO can interact with information about PNF resources. The NFVO sends a PNF resource acquisition request to the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface, wherein the PNF resource acquisition request is used for indicating the VNFM to acquire information of the PNF resource, the VNFM sends the PNF resource acquisition request to the EM, and the information of the PNF resource is acquired from the EM, so that at least the first identification information of the EM is carried in the PNF resource acquisition request.

The network architecture of the MANO application is provided with a plurality of EM, and the VNFM can send the PNF resource acquisition request to all the EM, or certainly can send the PNF resource acquisition request to part of the EM. Here, to which EM or EMs the PNF resource acquisition request is sent by the VNFM is determined by the first identification information of the EM carried in the PNF resource acquisition request. Specifically, the identification information of each EM set in the network architecture of the MANO application is stored in the NFVO, and the NFVO can carry the identification information of the corresponding EM in the PNF resource acquisition request according to the need of acquiring the information of the PNF resource.

S12: and sending the PNF resource acquisition request to the EM of the first identification information through a second PNF resource information management interface of the EM and the EM.

And the VNFM and the EM can interact information about the PNF resources by arranging a second PNF resource information management interface between the VNFM and the EM.

S13: and receiving PNF resource response information sent by the EM through the second PNF resource information management interface, and sending the PNF resource response information to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface, wherein the PNF resource response information carries information of the PNF resources managed by the EM.

A VNFM receives a PNF resource acquisition request sent by an NFVO through a first PNF resource information management interface, wherein the PNF resource acquisition request carries first identification information of an EM; the VNFM sends the PNF resource acquisition request to the EM of the first identification information through a second PNF resource information management interface; after receiving the PNF resource acquisition request, the EM sends PNF resource response information carrying information of the PNF resources managed by the EM to the VNFM through a second PNF resource information management interface; and the VNFM receives the PNF resource response information and sends the PNF resource response information to the NFVO through a first PNF resource information management interface. Thus, the NFVO obtains the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM of the first identification information, thereby managing and arranging the PNF resource. The EM obtains the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM, which belongs to the prior art, and the process is not described in detail in the embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment of the invention, the VNFM and the NFVO transmit the information of the PNF resource through the first PNF resource information management interface and the VNFM and the EM transmit the information of the PNF resource through the second PNF resource information management interface, so that the NFVO in the MANO can obtain the information of the PNF resource, and the MANO can manage and arrange the PNF resource. The process of managing and arranging resources by the NFVO belongs to the prior art, and is not described in detail in the embodiment of the present invention.

Example 2:

the NFVO may manage and arrange all PNF resources, may also manage and arrange part of the PNF resources, and the corresponding NFVO may acquire information of all PNF resources, and may also acquire information of part of the PNF resources. In order that the NFVO may obtain information of a part of PNF resources, so as to be more pertinent, on the basis of the above embodiment, in the embodiment of the present invention, the PNF resource acquisition request further carries second identification information of a PNF resource to be acquired, and the PNF resource response information carries information of the PNF resource of the second identification information in the PNF resource managed by the EM.

Each EM can manage a plurality of PNF resources, which include DU and RRU, and usually, it is not necessary to manage and schedule all the PNF resources managed by the EM, and only one or some of the PNF resources managed by the EM are needed to be managed and scheduled. As such, the NFVO may incur additional overhead if it acquires all PNF resources managed by the EM. In order to achieve the purpose of acquiring the information of a certain or some PNF resources, the second identification information of the PNF resources to be acquired is only required to be added into the PNF resource acquisition request. The EM receives a PNF resource acquisition request carrying second identification information of the PNF resource, acquires the PNF resource information of the second identification information in the PNF resource managed by the EM, adds the PNF resource information of the second identification information into PNF resource response information, and sends the PNF resource response information to the VNFM through a second PNF resource information management interface, so that the VNFM acquires the PNF resource information of the second identification information in the PNF resource managed by the EM.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a method for acquiring information of a PNF resource according to an embodiment of the present invention, including the following steps:

s21: the NFVO sends a QueryPNFRESCOURCeInformationRequest message to the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface.

The query pnfreqresourceinformationrequest message carries identification information of EM1, identification information of EMn, and identification information of a part of PNF resources managed by EM 1. The first PNF resource information management interface is located between the NFVO and the VNFM.

S22: and the VNFM forwards the QueryPNFREQUENCEInformationRequest message to the EM1 and the EMn through a second PNF resource information management interface according to the identification information of the EM1 and the identification information of the EMn, which are carried by the QueryPNFREQUENCEInformationRequest message.

It should be noted that the second PNF resource information management interface is located between the VNFM and the EM1, EMn, and multiple second PNF resource information management interfaces may be provided, where there is one second PNF resource information management interface between each EM and the VNFM; a second PNF resource information management interface can also be arranged, and a plurality of EM share the second PNF resource information management interface.

S23: the EM1 and the EMn respectively send a query pnresource information response message to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

The queryppnfrequenformationresponse message sent by EMn carries information of all PNF resources managed by EMn, and the queryppnfrequenformationresponse message sent by EM1 carries information of PNF resources corresponding to the identification information in the PNF resources managed by EM 1.

For example, a query pnfresh resource information request message sent by NFVO carries identification information of two PNF resources managed by EM1, which are identification information a and identification information b, respectively, and then a query pnfresh resource information response message sent by EM1 carries information of the PNF resources of the identification information a and the identification information b.

S24: the VNFM sends a queryppnfreqourcelnformationresponse message to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface.

The NFVO can obtain the information of all PNF resources managed by the EMn and the information of the PNF resources corresponding to the identification information in the PNF resources managed by the EM1 from the query pnfresh information format response message, so that the obtained PNF resources of the part can be managed and arranged.

Example 3:

for the obtained PNF resource, in order that the NFVO can timely obtain the information of the PNF resource that has changed when the information of the PNF resource changes, the NFVO may subscribe to the information of the PNF resource in the EM, on the basis of the above embodiments, in an embodiment of the present invention, after the sending the PNF resource response information to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface, the method further includes:

sending the subscription request to the EM through the second PNF resource information management interface, and receiving second subscription response information sent by the EM and aiming at the subscription request.

After the NFVO receives the PNF resource response information, the NFVO may send a subscription request, because the NFVO has already acquired the corresponding PNF resource, the NFVO may select a PNF resource that needs to be subscribed from the acquired PNF resources, and the NFVO sends the subscription request to the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface, and the VNFM sends the subscription request to the EM through the second PNF resource information management interface. And the specific EM or EMs to which the subscription request is sent is also determined by the identification information of the EM carried in the subscription request.

The specific subscription request may carry identification information of one EM, or may simultaneously carry identification information of at least two EMs.

The first subscription response information for the subscription request sent by the VNFM to the NFVO may not carry information related to the EM or PNF resource, for example, the first subscription response information may only carry information that the subscription is successful, and is used to notify the NFVO that the VNFM has received the subscription request. Similarly, the second subscription response information sent by the EM for the subscription request may not carry the relevant information of the PNF resource, for example, the second subscription response information may only carry the information that the subscription is successful, and is used to notify the VNFM that the EM has received the subscription request.

As shown in fig. 3, a schematic diagram of a subscription process of information of a PNF resource provided in an embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

s31: and the NFVO sends a SuscriberRequest message to the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface.

The SubscribeRequest message carries the identification information of EM1 and the identification information of EMn. The first PNF resource information management interface is located between the NFVO and the VNFM.

S32: and the VNFM sends a subscribe response message to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface. The subscribe response message carries the information that the subscription is successful.

S33: and forwarding the Suscribelequest message to the EM1 and the EMn by the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

S34: the EM1 and the EMn respectively send a Suscribersponse message to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

After the NFVO sends a subscription request to the corresponding EM, when the PNF resource managed by the EM changes, the EM sends the information of the changed PNF resource to the NFVO. Specifically, on the basis of the foregoing embodiments, in an embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes:

Here, the information of the PNF resource in which the PNF resource managed by the EM is changed includes at least one of: the information of the EM-managed PNF resource after the information change, the information of the EM-managed newly added PNF resource, and the information of the EM-managed deleted PNF resource.

That is, if the NFVO sends a subscription request to the corresponding EM, the PNF resource managed by the EM is changed, and the changed PNF resource information is sent to the NFVO, where the change includes: PNF resources are newly added in the EM, the PNF resources are deleted in the EM, the information of the PNF resources existing in the EM is changed, and the like.

As shown in fig. 4, a schematic diagram of a notification process of a method for acquiring information of a PNF resource according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

s41: and the EMn sends a Notify message to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

Specifically, when the PNF resource managed by the EMn changes, the EMn adds the information of the PNF resource whose managed PNF resource has changed to the Notify message, and sends the Notify message to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

S42: and forwarding the Notify message to the NFVO by the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface.

Example 4:

because there are many PNF resources managed by the EM, in the subscription process, all the PNF resources managed by the EM are not necessarily subscribed, that is, one or some of the PNF resources managed by the EM may be subscribed, thereby improving the flexibility of subscription. Therefore, on the basis of the above embodiments, in the embodiment of the present invention, the subscription request further carries third identification information of a PNF resource to be subscribed, and the PNF resource information change notification carries information after the PNF resource of the third identification information is changed.

At this time, if the PNF resource of the third identification information subscribed by the NFVO changes, the EM will send the information of the changed PNF resource to the NFVO.

Example 5:

in order to increase the flexibility of the system, the NFVO can not only subscribe to the information of the PNF resource, but also cancel the subscription. Therefore, on the basis of the above embodiments, in an embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes:

sending the unsubscribe request to the EM through the second PNF resource information management interface, and receiving second unsubscribe response information which is sent by the EM and aims at the unsubscribe request.

The process of canceling the subscription is similar to the subscription process, and is not described herein again.

In order to facilitate the setting of the first PNF resource information management interface and the second PNF resource information management interface, in the above embodiments, the first PNF resource information management interface is disposed at the Or-Vnfm reference point, and the second PNF resource information management interface is disposed at the Ve-Vnfm-em reference point.

The Or-Vnfm reference point and the Ve-Vnfm-em reference point are not described in detail in the prior art.

Example 6:

an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for acquiring information of a PNF resource, as shown in fig. 5, including the following steps:

s51: the method comprises the steps that an EM receives a PNF resource acquisition request sent by a VNFM through a second PNF resource information management interface of the EM and the VNFM, wherein the PNF resource acquisition request is received by the VNFM through a first PNF resource information management interface of the VNFM and the NFVO, and the PNF resource acquisition request carries first identification information of the EM.

S52: and acquiring information of self-managed PNF resources, and sending PNF resource response information carrying the information of the self-managed PNF resources to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface so that the VNFM sends the PNF resource response information to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface.

After receiving the PNF resource acquisition request carrying the identification information of the PNF resource acquisition request, the EM acquires the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM, generates PNF resource response information carrying the information of the PNF resource acquired by the EM, and sends the PNF resource response information to the VNFM through a second PNF resource information management interface; and the VNFM receives the PNF resource response information and sends the PNF resource response information to the NFVO through a first PNF resource information management interface. Thus, the NFVO obtains the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM of the first identification information, thereby managing and arranging the PNF resource. The EM obtains the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM, which belongs to the prior art, and the process is not described in detail in the embodiment of the present invention.

Example 7:

the NFVO may manage and arrange all PNF resources, may also manage and arrange part of the PNF resources, and the corresponding NFVO may acquire information of all PNF resources, and may also acquire information of part of the PNF resources. In order that the NFVO may obtain information of a part of PNF resources, so as to be more specific, on the basis of the above embodiment, in the embodiment of the present invention, the PNF resource obtaining request further carries second identification information of a PNF resource to be obtained, and the obtaining information of the PNF resource managed by the NFVO includes:

Each EM can manage a plurality of PNF resources, the PNF resources include DU and RRU, all PNF resources managed by the EM are not necessarily managed and arranged under normal conditions, only one or some PNF resources in the PNF resources managed by the EM are managed and arranged, and thus, NFVO does not need to acquire all PNF resources managed by the EM, which causes extra overhead. The EM receives a PNF resource acquisition request carrying second identification information of the PNF resource, acquires the PNF resource information of the second identification information in the PNF resource managed by the EM, adds the PNF resource information of the second identification information into PNF resource response information, and sends the PNF resource response information to the VNFM through a second PNF resource information management interface, so that the VNFM acquires the PNF resource information of the second identification information in the PNF resource managed by the EM.

As shown in fig. 6, a schematic diagram of a method for acquiring information of a PNF resource according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

s61: the NFVO sends a QueryPNFRESCOURCeInformationRequest message to the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface.

S62: and the VNFM forwards the QueryPNFREQUENCEInformationRequest message to the EM1 and the EMn through a second PNF resource information management interface according to the identification information of the EM1 and the identification information of the EMn, which are carried by the QueryPNFREQUENCEInformationRequest message.

S63: the EMn acquires information of all PNF resources managed by itself, and the EM1 acquires information of PNF resources managed by itself corresponding to the identification information.

For example, the queryppnfrequenformationrequest message sent by NFVO carries identification information of two PNF resources managed by EM1, which is identification information a and identification information b, respectively, and EM1 obtains information of the PNF resources of the identification information a and the identification information b.

S64: the EM1 and the EMn respectively send a query pnresource information response message to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

Also, as described in the above example, the information of the PNF resource carrying the identification information a and the identification information b is sent in the query pnfresh information response message sent by EM 1.

S65: the VNFM sends a queryppnfreqourcelnformationresponse message to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface.

Example 8:

for the obtained PNF resource, in order that the NFVO can timely obtain the information of the PNF resource that has changed when the information of the PNF resource changes, the NFVO may subscribe to the information of the PNF resource in the EM, and on the basis of the above embodiments, in an embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes:

The second subscription response information for the subscription request sent by the EM may not carry the related information of the PNF resource, for example, the second subscription response information may only carry the information that the subscription is successful, and is used to notify the VNFM that the EM has received the subscription request.

As shown in fig. 7, a schematic diagram of a subscription process of information of a PNF resource provided in an embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

s71: and the NFVO sends a SuscriberRequest message to the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface.

S72: and the VNFM sends a subscribe response message to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface. The subscribe response message carries the information that the subscription is successful.

S73: and forwarding the Suscribelequest message to the EM1 and the EMn by the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

S74: the EM1 and the EMn respectively send a Suscribersponse message to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

The subscribe message sent by EMn carries the information of successful subscription, and the subscribe message sent by EM1 also carries the information of successful subscription.

After receiving the subscription request, when the PNF resource managed by the EM changes, the EM sends the information of the changed PNF resource to the NFVO. Specifically, on the basis of the foregoing embodiments, in an embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes:

Here, the information on the PNF resource in which the PNF resource managed by the EM is changed includes at least one of: the information of the EM-managed PNF resource after the information change, the information of the EM-managed newly added PNF resource, and the information of the EM-managed deleted PNF resource.

That is, if the EM receives the subscription request, and any change occurs to the PNF resource managed by the EM, the information of the changed PNF resource is sent to the NFVO, where the change includes: PNF resources are newly added in the EM, the PNF resources are deleted in the EM, the information of the PNF resources existing in the EM is changed, and the like.

As shown in fig. 8, a schematic diagram of a notification process of a method for acquiring information of a PNF resource according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

s81: and the EMn sends a Notify message to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

It should be noted that, when the information of the PNF resource managed by the EMn is changed, the EMn sends a Notify message to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface, where the Notify carries the information after the information of the PNF resource managed by the EMn is changed. When the PNF resources managed by the EMn have newly added PNF resources, the EMn sends a Notify message to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface, wherein the Notify message identifies the information of the PNF resources as the information of the newly added PNF resources. When the PNF resources managed by the EMn have the deleted PNF resources, the EMn sends a Notify message to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface, wherein the Notify message identifies that the PNF resources are the deleted PNF resources.

S82: and forwarding the Notify message to the NFVO by the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface.

Example 9:

since the EM can manage many PNF resources, in the subscription process, not all the PNF resources managed by the EM are subscribed, that is, one or some of the PNF resources managed by the EM may be subscribed, thereby improving the flexibility of subscription. Therefore, on the basis of the foregoing embodiments, in an embodiment of the present invention, the subscription request further carries third identification information of a PNF resource to be subscribed, and if the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM is changed and before the PNF resource information change notification is generated, the method further includes:

if yes, the subsequent steps are carried out.

As shown in fig. 9, a schematic diagram of a notification process of a method for acquiring information of a PNF resource according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

s91: the EMn determines whether the PNF resource changed in the PNF resources managed by the EMn is the PNF resource of the third identification information carried in the subscription request, and if so, executes step S92.

It should be noted that, before the determination, the EMn has received the subscription request, and the subscription request carries the third identification information of the PNF resource to be subscribed.

S92: and the EMn sends a Notify message to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

It should be noted that the Notify message carries information of the PNF resource after the information change of the third identification information.

S93: and forwarding the Notify message to the NFVO by the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface.

It should be noted that, if there is a newly added PNF resource in the PNF resources managed by the EMn, step 92 is also executed, and correspondingly, the Notify message carries information of the newly added PNF resource; if there is a deleted PNF resource in the PNF resources managed by the EMn, step 92 is also executed, and correspondingly, the Notify message carries information of the deleted PNF resource.

Example 10:

In order to facilitate the setting of the first PNF resource information management interface and the second PNF resource information management interface, in the embodiment of the present invention, the first PNF resource information management interface is disposed at the Or-Vnfm reference point, and the second PNF resource information management interface is disposed at the Ve-Vnfm-em reference point.

Example 11:

based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus for acquiring information of a PNF resource, as shown in fig. 10, the apparatus includes:

a first receiving module 101, configured to receive, through a VNFM and a first PNF resource information management interface of an NFVO, a PNF resource acquisition request sent by the NFVO, where the PNF resource acquisition request carries first identifier information of an EM;

a sending module 102, configured to send the PNF resource acquisition request to the EM of the first identification information through a VNFM and a second PNF resource information management interface of the EM;

the first receiving module 101 is further configured to receive PNF resource response information sent by the EM through the second PNF resource information management interface, and the sending module 102 is further configured to send the PNF resource response information to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface, where the PNF resource response information carries information of the PNF resource managed by the EM.

The first receiving module 101 is further configured to receive, through the first PNF resource information management interface, a subscription request sent by the NFVO, and the sending module 102 is further configured to send first subscription response information for the subscription request to the NFVO, where the subscription request carries the first identification information of the EM;

the sending module 102 is further configured to send the subscription request to the EM of the first identification information through the second PNF resource information management interface, and the first receiving module 101 is further configured to receive second subscription response information, which is sent by the EM and is directed to the subscription request.

The first receiving module 101 is further configured to receive, through the first PNF resource information management interface, a unsubscribe request sent by the NFVO, and the sending module 102 is further configured to send, to the NFVO, first unsubscribe response information for the unsubscribe request, where the unsubscribe request carries the first identification information of the EM;

the sending module 102 is further configured to send the unsubscribe request to the EM of the first identification information through the second PNF resource information management interface, and the first receiving module 101 is further configured to receive second unsubscribe response information, which is sent by the EM and is directed to the unsubscribe request.

The first receiving module 101 is further configured to receive, through the second PNF resource information management interface, a PNF resource information change notification sent by the EM, where the PNF resource information change notification carries information of a PNF resource that is managed by the EM and has a PNF resource changed;

the sending module 102 is further configured to send the PNF resource information change notification to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface, so that the NFVO updates the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM according to the PNF resource information change notification.

The device for acquiring the information of the PNF resource provided by the embodiment of the invention is applied to the VNFM.

A VNFM receives a PNF resource acquisition request sent by an NFVO through a first PNF resource information management interface, wherein the PNF resource acquisition request carries first identification information of an EM; the VNFM sends the PNF resource acquisition request to the EM of the first identification information through a second PNF resource information management interface; after receiving the PNF resource acquisition request, the EM sends PNF resource response information carrying information of the PNF resources managed by the EM to the VNFM through a second PNF resource information management interface; and the VNFM receives the PNF resource response information and sends the PNF resource response information to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface, so that the NFVO obtains the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM of the first identification information, and the PNF resource is managed and arranged. The EM obtains the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM, which belongs to the prior art, and the process is not described in detail in the embodiment of the present invention.

Example 12:

based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus for acquiring information of a PNF resource, as shown in fig. 11, the apparatus includes:

a second receiving module 111, configured to receive, through a second PNF resource information management interface of the EM and the VNFM, a PNF resource acquisition request, where the PNF resource acquisition request is received by the VNFM through the VNFM itself and a first PNF resource information management interface of a network function virtualization controller NFVO, and the PNF resource acquisition request carries first identification information of the EM;

a processing and sending module 112, configured to acquire the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM, and send PNF resource response information carrying the information of the PNF resource managed by the processing and sending module to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface, so that the VNFM sends the PNF resource response information to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface.

The second receiving module 111 is further configured to receive, through the second PNF resource information management interface, a subscription request sent by the VNFM, where the subscription request is sent by the NFVO to the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface, and the subscription request carries the first identifier information of the EM;

the processing and sending module 112 is further configured to generate second subscription response information for the subscription request, and send the second subscription response information to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

The second receiving module 111 is further configured to receive, through the second PNF resource information management interface, a unsubscribe request sent by the VNFM, where the unsubscribe request is sent by the NFVO to the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface, and the unsubscribe request carries the first identifier information of the EM;

the processing and sending module 112 is further configured to generate second unsubscribe response information for the unsubscribe request, and send the second unsubscribe response information to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface.

The processing and sending module 112 is further configured to generate a PNF resource information change notification if the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM is changed, where the PNF resource information change notification carries the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM, which is changed; and sending the PNF resource information change notice to a VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface so that the VNFM sends the PNF resource information change notice to the NFVO.

The device for acquiring the information of the PNF resource provided by the embodiment of the invention is applied to EM.

After receiving the PNF resource acquisition request carrying the identification information of the PNF resource acquisition request, the EM acquires the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM, generates PNF resource response information carrying the information of the PNF resource acquired by the EM, and sends the PNF resource response information to the VNFM through a second PNF resource information management interface; and the VNFM receives the PNF resource response information and sends the PNF resource response information to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface, so that the NFVO obtains the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM of the first identification information, and the PNF resource is managed and arranged. The EM obtains the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM, which belongs to the prior art, and the process is not described in detail in the embodiment of the present invention.

Example 13:

based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention provides a system for acquiring information of a PNF resource, as shown in fig. 12, the system includes an apparatus for acquiring information of a physical network function resource, which is applied to a VNFM122, shown in fig. 10, an apparatus for acquiring information of a physical network function resource, which is applied to an EM123, shown in fig. 11, and an NFVO 121;

a system for acquiring information of a PNF resource will now be described in detail with reference to fig. 12.

The NFVO121 is configured to send, through a first PNF resource information management interface between itself and the VNFM122, a PNF resource acquisition request to the VNFM122, where the PNF resource acquisition request carries first identification information of a network element management EM 123;

the VNFM122 is configured to receive the PNF resource acquisition request through the first PNF resource information management interface, and send the PNF resource acquisition request to the EM123 through the second PNF resource information management interface of the VNFM and the EM 123;

the EM123 is configured to receive the PNF resource acquisition request through a second PNF resource information management interface, and send a PNF resource response to the VNFM122, where the PNF resource response carries information of the PNF resource managed by the EM 123;

the VNFM122 is further configured to receive the PNF resource response, and send the PNF resource response to the NFVO121 through the first PNF resource information management interface.

A VNFM122 receives, through a first PNF resource information management interface, a PNF resource acquisition request sent by the NFVO121, where the PNF resource acquisition request carries first identification information of the EM 123; the VNFM sends the PNF resource acquisition request to the EM123 of the first identification information through a second PNF resource information management interface; after receiving the PNF resource acquisition request, the EM123 acquires information of the PNF resource managed by itself; the EM123 generates PNF resource response information carrying the information of the PNF resource acquired by the EM123, and sends the PNF resource response information to the VNFM122 through the second PNF resource information management interface; the VNFM122 receives the PNF resource response information, and sends the PNF resource response information to the NFVO121 through the first PNF resource information management interface, so that the NFVO121 obtains the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM123 of the first identification information, thereby managing and arranging the PNF resource. The EM123 obtains information of PNF resources managed by itself, which belongs to the prior art, and details of the process are not described in the embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment of the present invention, VNFM122 and NFVO121 transmit information of PNF resources through the first PNF resource information management interface, and VNFM122 and EM123 transmit information of PNF resources through the second PNF resource information management interface, so that NFVO121 in MANO can obtain information of PNF resources, and thus MANO can manage and schedule PNF resources. The process of managing and arranging resources by NFVO121 belongs to the prior art, and is not described in detail in the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an application of the system for acquiring information of PNF resources in a C-RAN network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

and arranging a first PNF resource information management interface at the Or-Vnfm reference point, and arranging a second PNF resource information management interface at the Ve-Vnfm-em reference point.

The NFVO sends a QueryPNFRESCOURCeInformationRequest message to the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface. The specific query pnfresh information request message carries the first identification information of the EMn.

And the VNFM receives the QueryPNResourceImformationrequest message, and forwards the QueryPNResourceImformationrequest message to the EMn through the second PNF resource information management interface according to the first identification information of the EMn carried by the QueryPNResourceImformationrequest message.

The EMn receives the QueryPNFRESCOURCEInFormatRequest message, generates a QueryPNFRESCOURCEInFormatResponse message, adds the information of the PNF resource managed by the EMn into the QueryPNFRESCOURCEInFormatResponse message, and sends the information to the VNFM through a second PNF resource information management interface.

The VNFM receives a QueryPNResourceImationResponse message and sends the QueryPNResourceImationResponse message to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface. Thus, the NFVO can obtain the information of the PNF resource managed by the EMn, thereby managing and arranging the PNF resource.

Specifically, after receiving the query pnresource information response message, the NFVO sends a subscribe request message to the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface. The SubscribeRequest message carries first identification information of the EMn.

And the VNFM sends a subscribe response message to the NFVO through the first PNF resource information management interface. The subscribe response message carries the information that the subscription is successful. And the VNFM forwards the Suscribelequest message to the EMn through the second PNF resource information management interface. And the EMn sends a SuscripbResponse message to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface. The subscribe response message carries the information that the subscription is successful.

And when the information of the PNF resource managed by the EMn is changed, adding the information after the information change of the PNF resource managed by the EMn to the Notify message, and sending the Notify message to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface. And when newly added PNF resources exist in the PNF resources managed by the EMn, adding the information of the newly added PNF resources managed by the EMn to the Notify message, and sending the Notify message to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface. And when the PNF resources managed by the EMn comprise deleted PNF resources, adding the information of the deleted PNF resources managed by the EMn to the Notify message, and sending the Notify message to the VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface. And the VNFM sends a Notify message to the NFVO through a first PNF resource information management interface, and the NFVO updates the obtained PNF resource information according to the Notify message.

For the system/apparatus embodiments, since they are substantially similar to the method embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and reference may be made to some descriptions of the method embodiments for relevant points.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

While the preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the application.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A method for obtaining information of a physical network function resource, the method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the PNF resource acquisition request further carries second identification information of a PNF resource to be acquired, and the PNF resource response information carries information of the PNF resource of the second identification information in the PNF resource managed by the EM.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein after the sending the PNF resource response information to the NFVO over the first PNF resource information management interface, the method further comprises:

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the method further comprises:

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the method further comprises:

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the subscription request further carries third identification information of the PNF resource to be subscribed, and the PNF resource information change notification carries information after the PNF resource carrying the third identification information is changed.

7. The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein the first PNF resource-information management interface is disposed at an Or-Vnfm reference point and the second PNF resource-information management interface is disposed at a Ve-Vnfm-em reference point.

8. A method for obtaining information of a physical network function resource, the method comprising:

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the PNF resource acquisition request further carries second identification information of a PNF resource to be acquired, and the acquiring information of a PNF resource managed by the PNF resource acquisition request includes:

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the information of the PNF resource for which the EM-managed PNF resource is changed comprises at least one of:

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the subscription request further carries third identification information of PNF resources to be subscribed, and wherein, if the information of the PNF resources managed by the EM is changed and before the PNF resource information change notification is generated, the method further comprises:

if yes, the subsequent steps are carried out.

15. An apparatus for obtaining information of a physical network function resource, the apparatus comprising:

16. The apparatus of claim 15,

the first receiving module is further configured to receive, through the first PNF resource information management interface, a subscription request sent by the NFVO, where the subscription request carries the first identifier information of the EM;

17. The apparatus of claim 16,

the first receiving module is further configured to receive, through the first PNF resource information management interface, a unsubscribe request sent by the NFVO;

18. The apparatus of claim 16,

the first receiving module is further configured to receive, through the second PNF resource information management interface, a PNF resource information change notification sent by the EM, where the PNF resource information change notification carries information of a PNF resource that is managed by the EM and has a PNF resource changed;

19. An apparatus for obtaining information of a physical network function resource, the apparatus comprising:

20. The apparatus of claim 19,

the second receiving module is further configured to receive, through the second PNF resource information management interface, a subscription request sent by the VNFM, where the subscription request is sent by the NFVO to the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface, and the subscription request carries the first identifier information of the EM;

21. The apparatus of claim 20,

the second receiving module is further configured to receive, through the second PNF resource information management interface, a unsubscribe request sent by the VNFM, where the unsubscribe request is sent by the NFVO to the VNFM through the first PNF resource information management interface, and the unsubscribe request carries the first identifier information of the EM;

22. The apparatus of claim 20,

the processing and sending module is further configured to generate a PNF resource information change notification if the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM is changed, where the PNF resource information change notification carries the information of the PNF resource managed by the EM, which is changed; and sending the PNF resource information change notice to a VNFM through the second PNF resource information management interface so that the VNFM sends the PNF resource information change notice to the NFVO.

23. A system for acquiring information of a physical network function resource, characterized in that the system comprises means for acquiring information of a physical network function resource according to any of claims 15-18 for application to a virtualized network function manager VNFM, means for acquiring information of a physical network function resource according to any of claims 19-22 for application to a network element manager EM, and a network function virtualization controller NFVO.