CN111082954B - Network element load balancing method and network equipment - Google Patents

Network element load balancing method and network equipment Download PDF

Info

Publication number
CN111082954B
CN111082954B CN201811229086.XA CN201811229086A CN111082954B CN 111082954 B CN111082954 B CN 111082954B CN 201811229086 A CN201811229086 A CN 201811229086A CN 111082954 B CN111082954 B CN 111082954B
Authority
CN
China
Prior art keywords
network element
network
pool
notification message
virtualized
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Active
Application number
CN201811229086.XA
Other languages
Chinese (zh)
Other versions
CN111082954A (en
Inventor
王兵
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd
China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Original Assignee
China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd
China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd, China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute filed Critical China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd
Priority to CN201811229086.XA priority Critical patent/CN111082954B/en
Priority to PCT/CN2019/110760 priority patent/WO2020083051A1/en
Publication of CN111082954A publication Critical patent/CN111082954A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CN111082954B publication Critical patent/CN111082954B/en
Active legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

Links

Images

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L41/00—Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
    • H04L41/08—Configuration management of networks or network elements
    • H04L41/0803—Configuration setting
    • H04L41/0823—Configuration setting characterised by the purposes of a change of settings, e.g. optimising configuration for enhancing reliability
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L41/00—Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
    • H04L41/06—Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
    • H04L41/0654—Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications using network fault recovery
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L41/00—Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
    • H04L41/08—Configuration management of networks or network elements
    • H04L41/0895—Configuration of virtualised networks or elements, e.g. virtualised network function or OpenFlow elements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L41/00—Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
    • H04L41/08—Configuration management of networks or network elements
    • H04L41/0896—Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities
    • H04L41/0897—Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities by horizontal or vertical scaling of resources, or by migrating entities, e.g. virtual resources or entities
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
    • H04L67/01—Protocols
    • H04L67/10—Protocols in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network
    • H04L67/1001—Protocols in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
    • H04L67/1004—Server selection for load balancing
    • H04L67/1008—Server selection for load balancing based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
    • H04L67/50—Network services
    • H04L67/55—Push-based network services

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)
  • Data Exchanges In Wide-Area Networks (AREA)

Abstract

The invention provides a network element load balancing method and network equipment, wherein the method comprises the following steps: receiving a notification message sent by a Virtualized Network Function (VNF), wherein the notification message is used for indicating capacity change information of a network element in a network element pool; the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element; and determining the weight factor of the network element in the network element pool according to the notification message. In the embodiment of the invention, after receiving the notification message sent by the VNF, the first network element determines the weight factors of the network elements in the network element pool according to the capacity change information indicated by the notification message, so that after the capacity of the network elements in the network element pool is updated, the first network element can determine the latest weight factors of the network elements in the network element pool, and allocate the network elements for processing the user processing request, so that the network elements in the network element pool achieve load balance.

Description

Network element load balancing method and network equipment
Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a network element load balancing method and a network device.
Background
In an operator network, a control plane network element often provides services in a manner of a plurality of similar network element pools (pool), network elements in the pool are in a load sharing relationship, and when one or more network elements in the pool quit due to a fault, other networks in the pool can bear the originally borne traffic of the network elements, so that the problem of unbalanced traffic borne by each network element under the condition of no pool group can be solved.
Under the condition of a core network group pool, the following two conditions mainly exist for load balancing in the pool:
firstly, selecting by locally configuring a weight factor in the pool. Taking 2/3/4G as an example, the selection of the core network element by the Radio access network element is performed in a Mobile Switching Center (MSC)/Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN)/mobility management entity (Mo)MME) group pool, the MSC/SGSN/MME within the pool is selected by a Radio Network Controller (RNC). Taking an MSC group pool as an example, when a terminal enters a coverage area of a pool of a certain MSC, a Radio Access Network (RAN) node randomly allocates a terminal location update request to a certain MSC in the pool according to a load balancing principle, and the MSC completes a location update process and subsequent traffic service. The load balancing mechanism adopted when the RNC selects the MSC in the pool for the first time is realized through manual configuration, the load balancing strategy is mainly related to the processing capacity (namely the nominal capacity) of each MSC in the pool, the capacity factor of each MSC in the pool is preset through manual configuration data of the RNC, for example, the capacity of 3 MSCs is 40 ten thousand users, 50 ten thousand users and 60 ten thousand users respectively, the capacity factor is 4:5:6, and the probability that the RNC selects each MSC in the pool is calculated according to the capacity factor. Accordingly, in the fifth generation (5)thGeneration, 5G) mobile communication system, when AN Access Network (AN) selects AN AMF in a pool of a Core Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), the AMF is selected according to a weighting factor of the AMF, the weighting factor of the AMF is related to a capacity of each AMF in the pool, and a load balancing manner in the pool of the AMF may refer to a load balancing manner in the pool of the MSC, which is not described herein again. After a pool is operated for a period of time, due to various principles, such as unreasonable initial planning, addition of new MSCs, etc., load imbalance among MSCs in the pool is caused. Therefore, regulations need to be enacted to clarify the monitoring and adjustment mechanism of the load status.
And secondly, carrying out load balancing by means of the information configured by the third network element. Taking a pool of a Call Session Control Function (CSCF) group as an example, in a pool composed of physical CSCFs, all CSCFs share a Domain Name, when a Session Border Controller (SBC) selects a next-hop CSCF, the SBC queries a Domain Name System (DNS) with the Domain Name, the DNS returns an IP address list of the CSCF, selects an IP address with the highest SBC priority, and forwards a message to the CSCF for processing. The IP address list returned by the DNS is generated by static weight data configured in the DNS by an Element Management System (EMS)/Operation and Maintenance Center (OMC). After the deployment of the network elements in the pool is completed, the EMS/OMC configures the weight proportion of the network elements in the DNS according to the capacity of the network elements in the pool. According to the weight setting, each DNS query of the SBC returns an IP address list, and the sequence of the returned address list is consistent with the weight configured in the DNS. After obtaining the IP address list, the SBC may cache the IP address list locally for a period of time (e.g., minutes), and query the DNS to obtain the latest IP address list after the caching period elapses. The above mechanism can make the network load of the network element in the pool tend to balance as soon as possible after the network runs for a period of time. However, after the network element is virtualized, in the case of a virtualized network element group pool (or a virtualized network element and physical network element mixed group pool), since the virtualized network element supports elastic expansion, once the virtualized network element generates elastic expansion, there is no corresponding mechanism to timely notify that data adaptation needs to be performed, and the pool still maintains the initial static data. In this case, even if the virtualized network element supports elastic scaling, after the network operates for a period of time, the capacity of the virtualized network element after elastic scaling still cannot process the traffic volume matched with the virtualized network element, so that the network element in the pool cannot reach a load balancing state.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention provides a network element load balancing method and network equipment, which solve the problem that network element loads in a network element pool cannot be automatically balanced.
The embodiment of the invention provides a network element load balancing method, which is applied to a first network element and comprises the following steps:
receiving a notification message sent by a Virtualized Network Function (VNF), wherein the notification message is used for indicating capacity change information of a network element in a network element pool; the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element;
and determining the weight factor of the network element in the network element pool according to the notification message.
Before the step of receiving the notification message sent by the virtualized network function VNF, the method further includes:
sending a subscription request message to the VNF, wherein the subscription request message is used for subscribing the capacity change information of the network element in the network element pool;
and receiving a subscription response message fed back by the VNF according to the subscription request message.
Before the step of receiving the notification message sent by the virtualized network function VNF, the method further includes:
and acquiring initial weight factors and capacity information of network elements in the network element pool.
Wherein the capacity change information includes: changed capacity information;
the step of determining the weighting factor of the network element in the network element pool according to the notification message comprises the following steps:
and calculating the weight factors of different network elements in the network element pool according to the changed capacity information indicated by the notification message.
The embodiment of the invention also provides a network element load balancing method, which is applied to a Virtual Network Function (VNF), and comprises the following steps:
sending a notification message to a first network element, wherein the notification message is used for indicating the capacity change information of the network element in a network element pool; the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element.
Before the step of sending the notification message to the first network element, the method further includes:
receiving a subscription request message sent by a first network element, wherein the subscription request message is used for subscribing the capacity change information of the network element in a network element pool;
and sending a subscription response message to the first network element according to the subscription request message.
Before the step of sending the notification message to the first network element, the method further includes:
according to the operation data of the virtualized network element, carrying out capacity expansion;
and generating a notification message according to the capacity information after capacity expansion.
Wherein, according to the operation data of the virtualized network element, the step of capacity expansion is carried out, including:
acquiring the CPU occupancy rate of a virtualized network element in a network element pool;
and if the CPU occupancy rate of the virtualized network element exceeds a preset threshold value, carrying out capacity expansion according to a preset elastic strategy.
After the step of generating the notification message according to the expanded capacity information, the method further includes:
querying a subscription list;
and if the subscription list comprises the first network element, executing the step of sending a notification message to the first network element.
An embodiment of the present invention further provides a network device, where the network device is a first network element, and the network device includes: a processor; a memory and a transceiver coupled to the processor; wherein the content of the first and second substances,
the transceiver is configured to: receiving a notification message sent by a Virtualized Network Function (VNF), wherein the notification message is used for indicating capacity change information of a network element in a network element pool; the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element;
the processor is configured to: and determining the weight factor of the network element in the network element pool according to the notification message.
Wherein the transceiver is further configured to:
sending a subscription request message to the VNF, wherein the subscription request message is used for subscribing the capacity change information of the network element in the network element pool;
and receiving a subscription response message fed back by the VNF according to the subscription request message.
Wherein the processor is further configured to:
and acquiring initial weight factors and capacity information of network elements in the network element pool.
Wherein the capacity change information includes: changed capacity information;
the processor is further configured to:
and calculating the weight factors of different network elements in the network element pool according to the changed capacity information indicated by the notification message.
An embodiment of the present invention further provides a network device, where the network device is a first network element, and the network device includes:
a first receiving module, configured to receive a notification message sent by a virtualized network function VNF, where the notification message is used to indicate capacity change information of a network element in a network element pool; the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element;
and the first processing module is used for determining the weight factor of the network element in the network element pool according to the notification message.
An embodiment of the present invention further provides a network device, where the network device is a virtualized network function VNF, and the network device includes: a processor; a memory and a transceiver coupled to the processor; wherein the content of the first and second substances,
the transceiver is configured to: sending a notification message to a first network element, wherein the notification message is used for indicating the capacity change information of the network element in a network element pool; the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element.
Wherein the transceiver is further configured to:
receiving a subscription request message sent by a first network element, wherein the subscription request message is used for subscribing the capacity change information of the network element in a network element pool;
and sending a subscription response message to the first network element according to the subscription request message.
Wherein the processor is further configured to:
according to the operation data of the virtualized network element, carrying out capacity expansion;
and generating a notification message according to the capacity information after capacity expansion.
Wherein the processor is further configured to:
acquiring the CPU occupancy rate of a virtualized network element in a network element pool;
and if the CPU occupancy rate of the virtualized network element exceeds a preset threshold value, carrying out capacity expansion according to a preset elastic strategy.
Wherein the processor is further configured to:
querying a subscription list;
and if the subscription list comprises the first network element, executing the step of sending a notification message to the first network element.
An embodiment of the present invention further provides a network device, where the network device is a virtualized network function VNF, and the network device includes:
a second sending module, configured to send a notification message to the first network element, where the notification message is used to indicate capacity change information of the network element in the network element pool; the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element.
The embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the network element load balancing method are implemented.
The technical scheme of the invention has the beneficial effects that: after receiving the notification message sent by the VNF, the first network element determines the weighting factors of the network elements in the network element pool according to the capacity change information indicated by the notification message, so that after the capacity of the network elements in the network element pool is updated, the first network element can determine the latest weighting factors of the network elements in the network element pool, and allocate the network elements for processing the user processing request, so that the network elements in the network element pool achieve load balancing.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a network element load balancing method on a first network element side according to an embodiment of the present invention;
fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart illustrating a network element load balancing method on a VNF side according to an embodiment of the present invention;
fig. 3a and 3b are schematic diagrams illustrating interaction between network element entities according to an embodiment of the present invention;
fig. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a network device on a first network element side according to an embodiment of the present invention;
fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a network device on the VNF side according to an embodiment of the present invention;
fig. 6 shows a block diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Detailed Description
In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the following detailed description is given with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. In the following description, specific details such as specific configurations and components are provided only to help the full understanding of the embodiments of the present invention. Thus, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.
It should be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
In various embodiments of the present invention, it should be understood that the sequence numbers of the following processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention.
In addition, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein.
In the embodiments provided herein, it should be understood that "B corresponding to a" means that B is associated with a from which B can be determined. It should also be understood that determining B from a does not mean determining B from a alone, but may be determined from a and/or other information.
As shown in fig. 1, AN embodiment of the present invention provides a network element load balancing method, which is applied to a first network element, where the first network element is AN external network element supporting a group pool network element, and may include, but is not limited to, a radio network controller RNC/domain name system DNS or AN access network AN, and specifically includes the following steps:
step 11: receiving a notification message sent by a Virtualized Network Function (VNF), wherein the notification message is used for indicating capacity change information of a network element in a network element pool.
The notification message may be sent to AN external network element after the VNF is periodically or after the network element capacity in the network element pool changes, where the external network element is a third network element storing the weight information, such as AN RNC/VNF or AN. The network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element. When the network element pool includes at least two virtualized network elements, or at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element in the network element pool, if the virtualized network elements are expanded, the VNF sends a notification message indicating a change in network element capacity to the first network element. When a large number of users attempt to access the network elements in the network element pool (such as a burst meeting in a network service area), because the virtualized network elements in the network element pool support elastic expansion of capacity, the EMS/OMC in the network element pool can instruct the VNFM to perform capacity expansion operation on the virtualized network elements.
Step 12: and determining the weight factor of the network element in the network element pool according to the notification message.
And after receiving the notification message, the first network element updates the weight configuration of each network element according to the latest capacity of each network element in the network element pool indicated by the notification message.
Specifically, the capacity change information includes: changed capacity information; step 12 comprises: and calculating the weight factors of different network elements in the network element pool according to the changed capacity information indicated by the notification message. For the virtualized network element, the latest capacity may refer to a capacity after the virtualized network element is expanded, and the first network element actively acquires available capacity information of each network element in the current network element pool, and determines a new weight factor according to the available capacity information.
Wherein, step 11 may further include: a notification response message is fed back to the VNF to notify that the first network element (e.g., RNC/VNF or AN) successfully received the capacity change information of the network element. The timing sequence of step 12 is not required, and may occur before step 12 or after step 12.
The physical network element may be: a mobile switching center MSC, a mobility management entity MME, or a call session control function CSCF entity, and accordingly, the virtualized network element may be: virtualized MSC or virtualized CSCF, etc. Taking an MSC as an example, when a terminal enters a coverage area of a pool of the MSC, a Radio Access Network (RAN) node randomly allocates a terminal location update request to one MSC in the pool according to a load balancing principle, the MSC completes a location update process and allocates a Temporary Network Identity (TMSI) to the terminal, and the TMSI carries a Network Resource Identity (NRI) field for identifying an MSC number serving the terminal. As the terminal moves within the Pool service area of the MSC, it will be served by this MSC until it leaves the Pool service area of the MSC. During this period, if the terminal has service request, then the RAN node will directly distribute the traffic to the corresponding MSC for processing according to the NRI information in TMSI carried in the request message.
When the external network element has the requirement of continuously paying attention to the network element capacity information in the network element pool, the external network element can subscribe the capacity information of the network element, so that the VNF can send the capacity change information of the network element to the external network element periodically or when the network element capacity in the network element pool changes. Specifically, before step 11, the method further includes: sending a subscription request message to the VNF, wherein the subscription request message is used for subscribing the capacity change information of the network element in the network element pool; and receiving a subscription response message fed back by the VNF according to the subscription request message to determine that the subscription is successful. Therefore, the external network element outside the pool can subscribe the capacity change condition of the network element inside the pool through a subscription mechanism.
Wherein, step 11 also includes before: and acquiring initial weight factors and capacity information of network elements in the network element pool. Specifically, the first network element (RNC/VNF or AN) may obtain the initial weight factor of the pool and the capacity information of each network element in the pool through local configuration.
As shown in fig. 2, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network element load balancing method, which is applied to a virtualized network function VNF, and includes the following steps:
step 21: and sending a notification message to the first network element, wherein the notification message is used for indicating the capacity change information of the network elements in the network element pool.
Wherein the network element pool includes at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool includes at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element. When the network element pool includes at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element, if the virtualized network element expands, the VNF may send a notification message indicating a change in network element capacity to a first network element (e.g., RNC/VNF or AN). When a large number of users attempt to access the network elements in the network element pool (such as a burst meeting in a network service area), because the virtualized network elements in the network element pool support elastic expansion of capacity, the EMS/OMC in the network element pool can instruct the VNFM to perform capacity expansion operation on the virtualized network elements.
When the external network element has the requirement of continuously paying attention to the network element capacity information in the network element pool, the external network element can subscribe the capacity information of the network element, so that the VNF can send the capacity change information of the network element to the external network element periodically or when the network element capacity in the network element pool changes. Specifically, step 21 further includes: receiving a subscription request message sent by a first network element (such as RNC/DNS or AN), wherein the subscription request message is used for subscribing the capacity change information of the network element in a network element pool; and sending a subscription response message to the first network element (RNC/DNS or AN) according to the subscription request message so as to inform the first network element (RNC/DNS or AN) that the subscription is successful. Therefore, the external network element outside the pool can subscribe the capacity change condition of the network element inside the pool through a subscription mechanism.
Step 21 is preceded by: according to the operation data of the virtualized network element, carrying out capacity expansion; and generating a notification message according to the capacity information after capacity expansion. Specifically, the step of performing capacity expansion according to the operation data of the virtualized network element includes: acquiring the CPU occupancy rate of a virtualized network element in a network element pool; and if the CPU occupancy rate of the virtualized network element exceeds a preset threshold value, carrying out capacity expansion according to a preset elastic strategy. For example: when a large number of users attempt to access the network elements in the network element pool (such as a burst meeting in a network service area), the CPU occupancy rate of the virtualized network element in pool reaches a threshold, because the virtualized network element in the network element pool supports elastic expansion of capacity, at this time, the EMS/OMC in the network element pool can instruct the VNFM to perform capacity expansion operation of the virtualized network element, and after the VNFM completes the capacity expansion operation according to the instruction, the VNF is notified that the capacity expansion is successful.
After the step of generating the notification message according to the expanded capacity information, the method further includes: querying a subscription list; if the first network element (RNC/DNS or AN) is included in the subscription list, a step of sending a notification message to the first network element (RNC/DNS or AN), i.e. step 21, is performed. The VNF with changed capacity checks the subscription list, and if it is checked that the RNC/DNS or the AN is in the subscription list, that is, the VNF has subscribed to the capacity change information, the VNF may notify the RNC/DNS or the AN outside the pool that has subscribed before, by carrying the capacity change information through the notification message.
In a set of end-to-end network (e.g., 2/3/4G network) systems, in the case of a virtualized network element group pool or a hybrid group pool of virtualized and physical network elements, the system includes: VNFM, RNC/DNS, VNF and VNFM entities. Assuming a network element pool formed by mixing one set of virtualized MSC (vMSC1) and two sets of physical MSCs (MSC2 and MSC3), wherein the initial deployment capacities of vMSC1, MSC2 and MSC3 in the network element pool are the same, the weight ratio of three MSCs configured in the DNS is 1:1: 1. After the network runs for a period of time, if a large number of users suddenly try to access (e.g. a burst meeting in a network service area), since the virtualized network element supports elastic expansion, the vMSC1 may elastically expand and contract, and in order to ensure that the capacity after elastic expansion matches the traffic volume processed by the flexible network element, a state of load balancing of network elements in the network element pool can be achieved through an inter-network-element interaction flow as shown in fig. 3 a.
Step 31: the RNC/DNS sends a subscription request message to the VNF (e.g., a virtualized MSC or MME, etc.), where the subscription request message is used to subscribe to capacity change information of network elements in the network element pool.
Step 32: and the VNF feeds back a subscription response message to the RNC/DNS to inform the RNC/DNS that the subscription is successful.
Step 33: when the EMS/OMC detects that the CPU occupancy rate of the virtualized network element (such as vMSC1) reaches a preset threshold value, the EMS/OMC receives the real-time data of the network element operation, and according to a preset elastic strategy, the EMS/OMC sends a capacity expansion request to the VNFM to indicate the VNFM to initiate capacity expansion operation on the virtualized network element, and the capacity of the virtualized network element changes.
Step 34: the VNFM sends capacity change information to the VNF to notify of the capacity change. Wherein the capacity change information may be a changed new capacity.
Step 35: the VNF queries the subscription list.
Step 36: and if the subscription list comprises the RNC/DNS, the VNF sends a notification message to the RNC/DNS, wherein the notification message is used for indicating the capacity change information of the network element in the network element pool.
Step 37: the RNC/DNS feeds back a notification response message to the VNF to notify the VNF of successful reception of the capacity change information of the network element.
In the SA network of 5G, the core network has a served subscription notification message and plans an N2 interface that can extend the served message to the radio network element selection AMF. That is, a subscription notification message may be defined at the N2 interface, carrying new capacity information after the capacity change. As shown in fig. 3b, the network element load balancing method includes:
step 310: (R) the AN sends a subscription request message to the VNF through AN N2 interface of the AMF, the subscription request message being for subscribing to capacity change information of the network element within the network element pool.
Step 320: the VNF feeds back a subscription response message to the (R) AN through the N2 interface of the AMF to inform the RNC/DNS that the subscription was successful.
Step 330: when the EMS/OMC detects that the CPU occupancy rate of a virtualized network element (such as the vMSC1) reaches a preset threshold value, the EMS/OMC receives real-time data of network element operation, and according to a preset elastic strategy, the EMS/OMC sends a capacity expansion request to the VNFM to indicate that the VNFM initiates a capacity expansion operation on the vMSC1, and the capacity of the vMSC1 changes.
Step 340: the VNFM sends capacity change information to the VNF to notify of the capacity change. Wherein the capacity change information may be a changed new capacity.
Step 350: the VNF queries the subscription list.
Step 360: if the (R) AN is included in the subscription list, the VNF sends a notification message to the (R) AN through AN N2 interface of the AMF, where the notification message is used to indicate capacity change information of the network element within the network element pool.
Step 370: the (R) AN feeds back a notification response message to the VNF through AN N2 interface of the AMF to notify the VNF of successful reception of the capacity change information of the network element.
It should be noted that, in the above embodiment, only the RNC/DNS or AN is taken as the first network element for description, the first network element may also be other external network elements supporting the group pool network element, and the subscription notification and processing mechanism thereof may refer to the above embodiment, and therefore, details are not described herein again.
In the network element load balancing method of the embodiment of the present invention, after receiving the notification message sent by the VNF, the first network element determines the weighting factor of the network element in the network element pool according to the capacity change information indicated by the notification message, so that after the capacity of the network element in the network element pool is updated, the first network element can determine the latest weighting factor of each network element in the network element pool, and allocate the network element to the user processing request for processing, so that the network element in the network element pool achieves load balancing.
The above embodiments are respectively described with respect to the network element load balancing method of the present invention, and the following embodiments will further describe the network device corresponding thereto with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Specifically, the network device according to the embodiment of the present invention may be a first network element, and as shown in fig. 4, the network device 400 includes:
a first receiving module 410, configured to receive a notification message sent by a virtualized network function VNF, where the notification message is used to indicate capacity change information of a network element in a network element pool; the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element;
the first processing module 420 is configured to determine a weighting factor of a network element in the network element pool according to the notification message.
The network device 400 further includes:
a first sending module, configured to send a subscription request message to the VNF, where the subscription request message is used to subscribe to capacity change information of a network element in a network element pool;
a second receiving module, configured to receive a subscription response message fed back by the VNF according to the subscription request message.
Wherein, the network device 400 further comprises:
and the acquisition module is used for acquiring the initial weight factor and the capacity information of the network elements in the network element pool.
Wherein the capacity change information includes: changed capacity information;
the first processing module 420 includes:
and the processing submodule is used for calculating the weight factors of different network elements in the network element pool according to the changed capacity information indicated by the notification message.
The network device in this embodiment of the present invention may also be a virtualized network function VNF, as shown in fig. 5, where the network device 500 includes:
a second sending module 510, configured to send a notification message to the first network element, where the notification message is used to indicate capacity change information of the network element in the network element pool; the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element.
The network device 500 further includes:
a third receiving module, configured to receive a subscription request message sent by the first network element, where the subscription request message is used to subscribe to capacity change information of a network element in a network element pool;
and a third sending module, configured to send a subscription response message to the first network element according to the subscription request message.
Wherein, the network device 500 further includes:
the capacity expansion module is used for carrying out capacity expansion according to the operation data of the virtualization network element;
and the generating module is used for generating a notification message according to the capacity information after capacity expansion.
Wherein, the dilatation module includes:
the acquisition submodule is used for acquiring the CPU occupancy rate of the virtualized network element in the network element pool;
and the capacity expansion submodule is used for expanding the capacity according to a preset elastic strategy if the CPU occupancy rate of the virtualized network element exceeds a preset threshold value.
Wherein the network device 500 further comprises:
the query module is used for querying the subscription list;
and the control module is used for executing the step of sending the notification message to the first network element if the subscription list comprises the first network element.
The embodiment of the network equipment of the invention is corresponding to the embodiment of the method, all the implementation means in the embodiment of the method are suitable for the embodiment of the network equipment, and the same technical effect can be achieved. After receiving the notification message sent by the VNF, the first network element determines the weighting factors of the network elements in the network element pool according to the capacity change information indicated by the notification message, so that after the capacity of the network elements in the network element pool is updated, the first network element can determine the latest weighting factors of the network elements in the network element pool, and allocate the network elements for processing the user processing request, so that the network elements in the network element pool achieve load balancing.
In order to better achieve the above object, as shown in fig. 6, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a network device, where the network device includes: a processor 600; a memory 620 connected to the processor 600 through a bus interface, and a transceiver 610 connected to the processor 600 through a bus interface; the memory 620 is used for storing programs and data used by the processor in performing operations; transmitting data information or pilot frequency through the transceiver 610, and receiving an uplink control channel through the transceiver 610; when the processor 600 calls and executes the programs and data stored in the memory 620, the following functions are implemented:
the processor 600 is used to read the program in the memory 620 and execute the corresponding process.
A transceiver 610 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the processor 600.
Wherein, when the network device is a first network element, the transceiver 610 is configured to: receiving a notification message sent by a Virtualized Network Function (VNF), wherein the notification message is used for indicating capacity change information of a network element in a network element pool; the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element;
the processor 600 is configured to: and determining the weight factor of the network element in the network element pool according to the notification message.
Wherein the transceiver 610 is further configured to:
sending a subscription request message to the VNF, wherein the subscription request message is used for subscribing the capacity change information of the network element in the network element pool;
and receiving a subscription response message fed back by the VNF according to the subscription request message.
Wherein, the processor 600 is further configured to:
and acquiring initial weight factors and capacity information of network elements in the network element pool.
Wherein the capacity change information includes: changed capacity information;
the processor 600 is further configured to:
and calculating the weight factors of different network elements in the network element pool according to the changed capacity information indicated by the notification message.
Wherein, when the network device is a virtualized network function VNF, the transceiver 610 is configured to: sending a notification message to a first network element, wherein the notification message is used for indicating the capacity change information of the network element in a network element pool; the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element.
Wherein the transceiver 610 is further configured to:
receiving a subscription request message sent by a first network element, wherein the subscription request message is used for subscribing the capacity change information of the network element in a network element pool;
and sending a subscription response message to the first network element according to the subscription request message.
Wherein, the processor 600 is further configured to:
according to the operation data of the virtualized network element, carrying out capacity expansion;
and generating a notification message according to the capacity information after capacity expansion.
Wherein, the processor 600 is further configured to:
acquiring the CPU occupancy rate of a virtualized network element in a network element pool;
and if the CPU occupancy rate of the virtualized network element exceeds a preset threshold value, carrying out capacity expansion according to a preset elastic strategy.
Wherein, the processor 600 is further configured to:
querying a subscription list;
and if the subscription list comprises the first network element, executing the step of sending a notification message to the first network element.
Where in fig. 6, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with various circuits being linked together, particularly one or more processors represented by processor 600 and memory represented by memory 620. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 610 may be a number of elements including a transmitter and a transceiver providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor 600 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 620 may store data used by the processor 600 in performing operations.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the steps for implementing the above embodiments may be performed by hardware, or may be instructed to be performed by associated hardware by a computer program that includes instructions for performing some or all of the steps of the above methods; and the computer program may be stored in a readable storage medium, which may be any form of storage medium.
The embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer program implements each process of the foregoing network element load balancing method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect, and in order to avoid repetition, details are not repeated here. The computer-readable storage medium may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.
Furthermore, it is to be noted that in the device and method of the invention, it is obvious that the individual components or steps can be decomposed and/or recombined. These decompositions and/or recombinations are to be regarded as equivalents of the present invention. Also, the steps of performing the series of processes described above may naturally be performed chronologically in the order described, but need not necessarily be performed chronologically, and some steps may be performed in parallel or independently of each other. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all or any of the steps or elements of the method and apparatus of the present invention may be implemented in any computing device (including processors, storage media, etc.) or network of computing devices, in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof, which can be implemented by those skilled in the art using their basic programming skills after reading the description of the present invention.
Thus, the objects of the invention may also be achieved by running a program or a set of programs on any computing device. The computing device may be a general purpose device as is well known. The object of the invention is thus also achieved solely by providing a program product comprising program code for implementing the method or the apparatus. That is, such a program product also constitutes the present invention, and a storage medium storing such a program product also constitutes the present invention. It is to be understood that the storage medium may be any known storage medium or any storage medium developed in the future. It is further noted that in the apparatus and method of the present invention, it is apparent that each component or step can be decomposed and/or recombined. These decompositions and/or recombinations are to be regarded as equivalents of the present invention. Also, the steps of executing the series of processes described above may naturally be executed chronologically in the order described, but need not necessarily be executed chronologically. Some steps may be performed in parallel or independently of each other.
While the foregoing is directed to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (19)

1. A network element load balancing method is applied to a first network element, and is characterized by comprising the following steps:
receiving a notification message sent by a virtualized network function VNF, where the notification message is used to indicate capacity change information of a network element in a network element pool, and the notification message includes: changed capacity information; wherein the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element;
determining a weighting factor of a network element in the network element pool according to the notification message, including: and calculating the weight factors of different network elements in the network element pool according to the changed capacity information indicated by the notification message.
2. The method for network element load balancing according to claim 1, wherein the step of receiving the notification message sent by the virtualized network function VNF further comprises:
sending a subscription request message to the VNF, wherein the subscription request message is used for subscribing the capacity change information of the network element in the network element pool;
and receiving a subscription response message fed back by the VNF according to the subscription request message.
3. The method for network element load balancing according to claim 1, wherein the step of receiving the notification message sent by the virtualized network function VNF further comprises:
and acquiring the initial weight factor and the capacity information of the network elements in the network element pool.
4. A network element load balancing method is applied to a Virtual Network Function (VNF), and is characterized by comprising the following steps:
sending a notification message to a first network element, where the notification message is used to indicate capacity change information of a network element in a network element pool, and the notification message includes: changed capacity information; wherein the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element; and calculating the weight factors of different network elements in the network element pool by the first network element according to the changed capacity information indicated by the notification message.
5. The method for balancing network element load according to claim 4, wherein the step of sending the notification message to the first network element further comprises:
receiving a subscription request message sent by the first network element, wherein the subscription request message is used for subscribing the capacity change information of the network element in the network element pool;
and sending a subscription response message to the first network element according to the subscription request message.
6. The method for balancing network element load according to claim 4, wherein the step of sending the notification message to the first network element further comprises:
according to the operation data of the virtualized network element, carrying out capacity expansion;
and generating the notification message according to the capacity information after capacity expansion.
7. The network element load balancing method according to claim 6, wherein the step of expanding the capacity according to the operation data of the virtualized network element includes:
acquiring the CPU occupancy rate of a virtualized network element in a network element pool;
and if the CPU occupancy rate of the virtualized network element exceeds a preset threshold value, carrying out capacity expansion according to a preset elastic strategy.
8. The method for balancing network element load according to claim 6, wherein after the step of generating the notification message according to the expanded capacity information, the method further comprises:
querying a subscription list;
and if the subscription list comprises the first network element, executing a step of sending a notification message to the first network element.
9. A network device, the network device being a first network element, comprising: a processor; a memory and transceiver connected to the processor; it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,
the transceiver is configured to: receiving a notification message sent by a virtualized network function VNF, where the notification message is used to indicate capacity change information of a network element in a network element pool, and the notification message includes: changed capacity information; wherein the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element;
the processor is configured to: determining a weight factor of a network element in the network element pool according to the notification message;
the processor is further configured to: and calculating the weight factors of different network elements in the network element pool according to the changed capacity information indicated by the notification message.
10. The network device of claim 9, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:
sending a subscription request message to the VNF, wherein the subscription request message is used for subscribing the capacity change information of the network element in the network element pool;
and receiving a subscription response message fed back by the VNF according to the subscription request message.
11. The network device of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:
and acquiring the initial weight factor and the capacity information of the network elements in the network element pool.
12. A network device, wherein the network device is a first network element, the network device comprising:
a first receiving module, configured to receive a notification message sent by a virtualized network function VNF, where the notification message is used to indicate capacity change information of a network element in a network element pool, and the receiving module includes: changed capacity information; wherein the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element;
a first processing module, configured to determine, according to the notification message, a weighting factor of a network element in the network element pool, where the first processing module includes: and calculating the weight factors of different network elements in the network element pool according to the changed capacity information indicated by the notification message.
13. A network device, the network device being a virtualized network function, VNF, comprising: a processor; a memory and transceiver connected to the processor; it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,
the transceiver is configured to: sending a notification message to a first network element, where the notification message is used to indicate capacity change information of a network element in a network element pool, and the notification message includes: changed capacity information; wherein the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element; and calculating the weight factors of different network elements in the network element pool by the first network element according to the changed capacity information indicated by the notification message.
14. The network device of claim 13, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:
receiving a subscription request message sent by the first network element, wherein the subscription request message is used for subscribing the capacity change information of the network element in the network element pool;
and sending a subscription response message to the first network element according to the subscription request message.
15. The network device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to:
according to the operation data of the virtualized network element, carrying out capacity expansion;
and generating the notification message according to the capacity information after capacity expansion.
16. The network device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:
acquiring the CPU occupancy rate of a virtualized network element in a network element pool;
and if the CPU occupancy rate of the virtualized network element exceeds a preset threshold value, carrying out capacity expansion according to a preset elastic strategy.
17. The network device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:
querying a subscription list;
and if the subscription list comprises the first network element, executing a step of sending a notification message to the first network element.
18. A network device that is a virtualized network function, VNF, comprising:
a second sending module, configured to send a notification message to the first network element, where the notification message is used to indicate capacity change information of a network element in a network element pool, and the notification message includes: changed capacity information; wherein the network element pool comprises at least two virtualized network elements, or the network element pool comprises at least one virtualized network element and at least one physical network element; and calculating the weight factors of different network elements in the network element pool by the first network element according to the changed capacity information indicated by the notification message.
19. A computer-readable storage medium, having a computer program stored thereon, which, when being executed by a processor, implements the steps of the network element load balancing method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and 4 to 8.
CN201811229086.XA 2018-10-22 2018-10-22 Network element load balancing method and network equipment Active CN111082954B (en)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN201811229086.XA CN111082954B (en) 2018-10-22 2018-10-22 Network element load balancing method and network equipment
PCT/CN2019/110760 WO2020083051A1 (en) 2018-10-22 2019-10-12 Network element load balancing method and network device

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN201811229086.XA CN111082954B (en) 2018-10-22 2018-10-22 Network element load balancing method and network equipment

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
CN111082954A CN111082954A (en) 2020-04-28
CN111082954B true CN111082954B (en) 2022-01-25

Family

ID=70309671

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CN201811229086.XA Active CN111082954B (en) 2018-10-22 2018-10-22 Network element load balancing method and network equipment

Country Status (2)

Country Link
CN (1) CN111082954B (en)
WO (1) WO2020083051A1 (en)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN113824577B (en) * 2020-06-19 2023-08-15 中国移动通信有限公司研究院 Information processing method, related network equipment and storage medium
CN114040448B (en) * 2021-12-01 2022-11-18 广州爱浦路网络技术有限公司 Base station load balancing method, system, device and storage medium
CN114785793A (en) * 2022-03-15 2022-07-22 浪潮云信息技术股份公司 Elastic expansion load balancing method and system

Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN101924737A (en) * 2009-06-12 2010-12-22 华为技术有限公司 Subscribing method and system of user data and related equipment
CN101998512A (en) * 2009-08-20 2011-03-30 中国移动通信集团公司 Load equalization method among MSC (Mobile Switching Center) pools, MSC and system
CN105407057A (en) * 2015-12-07 2016-03-16 中国联合网络通信集团有限公司 Load balancing method and device
CN105873114A (en) * 2015-01-21 2016-08-17 中兴通讯股份有限公司 Virtualised network function performance monitoring method and a corresponding system
CN106488506A (en) * 2015-08-26 2017-03-08 中国电信股份有限公司 The mixed networking method and system of vMME and MME
WO2017196389A1 (en) * 2016-05-11 2017-11-16 Intel IP Corporation Apparatus of performance measurement data subscription for nfv performance management
CN108075914A (en) * 2016-11-15 2018-05-25 中国移动通信有限公司研究院 A kind of method and the network equipment of dynamic capacity-expanding capacity reducing

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9769694B2 (en) * 2015-03-13 2017-09-19 Intel IP Corporation MME overload or underload mitigation by MME VNF apparatus and method
CN108287746B (en) * 2017-01-09 2021-04-16 大唐移动通信设备有限公司 Method and device for expanding or contracting virtual resources of EPC network element
CN107104835A (en) * 2017-04-25 2017-08-29 广东工业大学 The dynamic modification method and system of a kind of virtualization SAE GW weights

Patent Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN101924737A (en) * 2009-06-12 2010-12-22 华为技术有限公司 Subscribing method and system of user data and related equipment
CN101998512A (en) * 2009-08-20 2011-03-30 中国移动通信集团公司 Load equalization method among MSC (Mobile Switching Center) pools, MSC and system
CN105873114A (en) * 2015-01-21 2016-08-17 中兴通讯股份有限公司 Virtualised network function performance monitoring method and a corresponding system
CN106488506A (en) * 2015-08-26 2017-03-08 中国电信股份有限公司 The mixed networking method and system of vMME and MME
CN105407057A (en) * 2015-12-07 2016-03-16 中国联合网络通信集团有限公司 Load balancing method and device
WO2017196389A1 (en) * 2016-05-11 2017-11-16 Intel IP Corporation Apparatus of performance measurement data subscription for nfv performance management
CN108075914A (en) * 2016-11-15 2018-05-25 中国移动通信有限公司研究院 A kind of method and the network equipment of dynamic capacity-expanding capacity reducing

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2020083051A1 (en) 2020-04-30
CN111082954A (en) 2020-04-28

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US20210037456A1 (en) Method and network device for selecting service network, and management device
CN111629401B (en) Data distribution method and system for edge application
CN109041136B (en) Method for inserting SMF and AMF entity
US20200228990A1 (en) Network resource deployment method and device, and network resource assessment method and device
CN107919969B (en) Policy control method and device
WO2019073977A1 (en) Ue configuration and update with network slice selection policy
CN111082954B (en) Network element load balancing method and network equipment
WO2019243872A1 (en) Dynamic rsfp
CN111083718A (en) Session management method, network function and network system
US11159934B2 (en) Presence reporting areas for the UE
CN101841888A (en) Resource control method, related equipment and related system
EP3297333A1 (en) Access method and corresponding access node, terminal and communication network
EP3445072A1 (en) Mobile radio communication network and method for associating a mobile radio terminal device to a network slice instance of a mobile radio communication network
CN105723797A (en) Method for maintenance of maximum number of bearers when maximum number of bearers reached
US20180302760A1 (en) Redirection method and apparatus
JP2022540445A (en) Communication method and network elements
CN116058000A (en) Mechanism for coordinating seamless service continuity to edge application servers at relocation
CN108462978B (en) Access control method and device
US20220217618A1 (en) Access control method and apparatus, and readable storage medium
US20220225459A1 (en) Communication network component and method for handling a service request
US11943835B2 (en) Communication method and communications apparatus for PC5 V2X
CN108028773B (en) Method and mobility management entity pool for enhancing telecommunication network performance
CN116438824A (en) Method, device and system for reallocating core network devices in wireless network
WO2023137750A1 (en) Method for slice resource release
US20230308971A1 (en) Methods and apparatus for supporting switching of traffic corresponding to a communication session between two non-3gpp access paths

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PB01 Publication
PB01 Publication
SE01 Entry into force of request for substantive examination
SE01 Entry into force of request for substantive examination
GR01 Patent grant
GR01 Patent grant