CN112748981A

CN112748981A - Method and device for processing software mirror image of virtual network function

Info

Publication number: CN112748981A
Application number: CN201911040421.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 黄骋; 王耀光; 于益俊
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-10-29
Filing date: 2019-10-29
Publication date: 2021-05-04
Anticipated expiration: 2039-10-29
Also published as: WO2021083061A1; CN112748981B

Abstract

The application provides a method and a device for processing a software image of a virtual network function. The method for processing the software mirror image with the virtual network function comprises the following steps: a network function virtualization orchestrator NFVO sends at least one of a first query message or a second query message to at least one virtual resource manager VIM, the first query message being used to query whether a software image of a first virtual network function VNF exists under a directory managed by each VIM of the at least one VIM, and the second query message being used to query whether resources of each VIM of the at least one VIM meet deployment requirements of the first VNF; the NFVO receives at least one of a first feedback message or a second feedback message sent by at least one VIM; the NFVO sends a software image of the first VNF to a corresponding VIM according to at least one of the first feedback message or the second feedback message; wherein the first VNF is a VNF described by a newly online Virtual Network Function Descriptor (VNFD) file. The embodiment of the application can improve the utilization rate of the storage resources of the VIM.

Description

Method and device for processing software mirror image of virtual network function

Technical Field

The present application relates to communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for processing a software image of a virtual network function.

Background

Network elements used in a telecommunication Network are converted into independent applications through a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technology, the Network elements can be flexibly deployed on a unified infrastructure platform formed by a standard server, a storage device, a switch and the like, the hardware equipment of the infrastructure platform is subjected to resource pooling and Virtualization through the Virtualization technology, virtual resources are provided for upper-layer applications, application and hardware decoupling is achieved, the resources can be fully and flexibly shared, rapid development and deployment of new services are achieved, and automatic deployment, elastic expansion, fault isolation and the like are conducted based on actual service requirements.

The NFV system may include a Network Functions Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO), a Virtual resource Manager (VIM), a Network Functions Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI), a plurality of Virtual Network Functions (VNF), and an Operation Support System (OSS)/service support system (BSS). During VNF instantiation, the NFVO will select the most suitable VIM and NFVI among the VIM and NFVI, and create a virtual machine in which the VNF can be deployed. Creating a virtual machine requires a corresponding software image, with different VNFs having different virtual machine software images. In the virtual machine software image distribution process, software images are stored in storage directories of all the VIMs, so that no matter which VIM and NFVI the VNF is deployed in, the software images required by the VNF can be found in the VIM management directory, and the time for instantiating the VNF is reduced.

However, different VNFs have different deployment requirements, not every VIM can provide proper deployment, and storing software images in the management directory of every VIM results in wasted storage rate.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method and a device for processing a software image with a virtual network function, so as to improve the utilization rate of storage resources of a VIM.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a method for processing a software image of a virtual network function, where the method may include: the network function virtualization orchestrator NFVO sends at least one of a first query message for querying whether a software image of a first virtual network function VNF exists under a directory managed by each of the at least one VIM or a second query message for querying whether resources of each of the at least one VIM meet deployment requirements of the first VNF to the at least one virtual resource manager VIM. The NFVO receives at least one of the first feedback message or the second feedback message sent by the at least one VIM. The NFVO sends the software image of the first VNF to the corresponding VIM according to at least one of the first feedback message or the second feedback message; the first VNF is a VNF described by a new online virtual network function descriptor VNFD file.

In the implementation manner, before the software image is deployed, whether the software image of the first virtual network function VNF exists in a directory managed by each VIM in the at least one VIM is inquired, and/or whether the resource of each VIM in the at least one VIM meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF is inquired, so that a suitable VIM is screened out, the software image is sent to the suitable VIM, and the utilization rate of the storage resource of the VIM can be improved.

In one possible design, the NFVO sending the software image of the first VNF to the corresponding VIM according to at least one of the first feedback message or the second feedback message may include any one of the following three ways:

in a first manner, the NFVO determines, according to the first feedback message, that the VIM of the software image of the first VNF is not stored in the at least one VIM, and the NFVO sends the software image of the first VNF to the VIM of the software image of the first VNF is not stored.

The implementation method screens the VIM which stores the same software image through the first query message, and sends the software image to the VIM which does not store the software image of the first VNF, so that repeated sending of the software image is avoided, and the utilization rate of storage resources of the VIM is improved.

And secondly, the NFVO determines, according to the second feedback message, a VIM of the at least one VIM that meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF, and the NFVO sends the software image of the first VNF to the VIM that meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF.

In the implementation manner, the VIM meeting the deployment environment of the first VNF is screened out through the second query message, and the software image is sent to the VIM meeting the deployment environment of the first VNF, so that reasonable deployment of the software image is realized, and the utilization rate of storage resources of the VIM is improved.

Third, the NFVO determines, according to the first feedback message, a VIM of the at least one VIM that does not store the software image of the first VNF, determines, according to the second feedback message, a VIM of the at least one VIM that meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF, and sends, to the first VIM, the software image of the first VNF, where the first VIM does not store the software image of the first VNF and meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF.

The implementation method screens the VIM which does not store the software image and meets the deployment environment of the first VNF through the first query message and the second query message, and sends the software image to the VIM, so that repeated sending of the software image is avoided, reasonable deployment of the software image is achieved, and the utilization rate of storage resources of the VIM is improved.

In one possible design, the method may further include: and the NFVO adds the software image of the first VNF to the corresponding VIM corresponding relation to the record table.

According to the implementation mode, the software mirror image and the record table stored with the software mirror image VIM are established, so that when the VNFD file is offline, the software mirror image can be deleted according to the record table, reasonable deployment of the software mirror image is achieved, and the utilization rate of storage resources of the VIM is improved.

In one possible design, the correspondence between the software image of the first VNF and the corresponding VIM includes an identification of the software image of the first VNF, an identification of the VNFD, and an identification of the corresponding VIM.

In one possible design, the first query message includes at least one of an identification, a name, a version, or verification information of the software image.

In one possible design, the first feedback message is used to indicate that the VIM stores the software image of the first VNF, e.g., the first feedback message includes an identification of the VIM storing the software image of the first VNF.

In one possible design, the second feedback message is used to indicate that the VIM meets the deployment requirements of the first VNF, e.g., the second feedback message includes an identification of the VIM that meets the deployment requirements of the first VNF.

In one possible design, the method may further include: the NFVO receives a third feedback message, wherein the third feedback message is used for indicating that the resource managed by the VIM is changed; the NFVO determines a second VIM according to the third feedback message, where the second VIM is a VIM of the at least one VIM that requires deletion of the software image of the first VNF; the NFVO sends a delete request message to the second VIM, the delete request message for deleting the software image of the first VNF.

According to the implementation mode, when the resources managed by the VIM are changed, the mirror image stored in the VIM which cannot provide the deployment position for the VNF is deleted, and the use efficiency of the storage resources in the VIM is further improved.

In one possible design, the method may further include: the NFVO sends a third query message to the at least one VIM, the third query message to query whether the resources of the first VIM meet the deployment requirements of the first VNF.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for processing a software image of a virtual network function, where the method may include: a virtual resource manager (VIM) receives at least one of a first query message or a second query message sent by a Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO), wherein the first query message is used for querying whether a software image of a first Virtual Network Function (VNF) exists in a directory managed by the VIM, and the second query message is used for querying whether resources of the VIM meet the deployment requirement of the first VNF; the VIM sending at least one of a first feedback message or a second feedback message to the NFVO, the at least one of the first feedback message or the second feedback message used to determine whether the NFVO sends a software image of a first VNF to the VIM; the first VNF is a VNF described by a new online virtual network function descriptor VNFD file.

In one possible design, the first feedback message is used to indicate that the VIM stores a software image of the first VNF.

In one possible design, the second feedback message is used to indicate that the VIM meets the deployment requirements of the first VNF.

In one possible design, the method may further include: the VIM sends a third feedback message to the NFVO, wherein the third feedback message is used for indicating that the resources managed by the VIM are changed; the VIM receives a deletion request message sent by the NFVO, the deletion request message being used to delete the software image of the first VNF.

In one possible design, the method may further include: the VIM receives a third query message sent by the NFVO, the third query message being used to query whether the resources of the VIM meet the deployment requirements of the first VNF.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a processing device of a software image of a virtual network function, where the processing device of the software image may be used as an NFVO, and the device has a function of implementing the method of the first aspect. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions, for example, a transceiver unit or module, and a processing unit or module.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a processing apparatus of a software image of a virtual network function, where the processing apparatus of the software image may be a VIM, and the apparatus has a function of implementing the method of the second aspect. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions, for example, a transceiver unit or module, and a processing unit or module.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides an apparatus for processing a software image of a virtual network function, including: one or more processors; a memory for storing one or more programs; when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the method of any one of the first aspects as described above.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides an apparatus for processing a software image of a virtual network function, including: one or more processors; a memory for storing one or more programs; when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the method of any one of the second aspects as described above.

In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium comprising a computer program which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any of the above first aspects.

In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium comprising a computer program which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any of the second aspects above.

In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions for performing the method of any of the first aspect above, when the instructions are executed by a computer.

In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions for performing the method of any of the first aspect above, when the instructions are executed by a computer.

In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a chip comprising a processor and a memory, the memory being configured to store a computer program, and the processor being configured to call and run the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method according to any of the first aspect.

In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a chip comprising a processor and a memory, the memory being configured to store a computer program, and the processor being configured to call and execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method according to any of the second aspects.

In a thirteenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a system that may include an NFVO and at least one VIM. The NFVO may perform the method of any one of the first aspects above, and any one of the VIMs may perform the method of any one of the second aspects above.

According to the method and the device for processing the software image with the virtual network function, at least one of a first query message and a second query message is sent to at least one VIM through an NFVO, the first query message is used for querying whether the software image of a first VNF exists in a directory managed by each VIM in the at least one VIM, and the second query message is used for querying whether the resources of each VIM in the at least one VIM meet the deployment requirement of the first VNF; the NFVO receives at least one of a first feedback message or a second feedback message sent by at least one VIM; the NFVO sends a software image of the first VNF to the corresponding VIM according to at least one of the first feedback message or the second feedback message; the first VNF is a VNF described by a new online virtual network function descriptor VNFD file. The embodiment of the application can improve the utilization rate of the storage resources of the VIM.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an NFV system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of a processing method of a software image of a VNF according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of another method for processing a software image of a VNF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of another method for processing a software image of a VNF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another method for processing a software image of a VNF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a schematic processing diagram of a software image of a VNF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of another method for processing a software image of a VNF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a processing apparatus 800 for software mirroring of a virtual network function according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a processing apparatus 900 for software mirroring according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a processing device 1000 for software mirroring of a virtual network function according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a processing apparatus 1100 for software mirroring according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The use of the terms "first," "second," and the like in this application are used for descriptive purposes only and not for purposes of indication or implication of relative importance, nor of order. Furthermore, the terms "comprises" and "comprising," as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such as a list of steps or elements. A method, system, article, or apparatus is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements explicitly listed, but may include other steps or elements not explicitly listed or inherent to such process, system, article, or apparatus.

It should be understood that in the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" for describing an association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there may be three relationships, e.g., "a and/or B" may indicate: only A, only B and both A and B are present, wherein A and B may be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items. For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c, may represent: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", wherein a, b, c may be single or plural.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an NFV system provided in an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 1, the NFV system of the embodiment of the present application may include: OSS/BSS, NFVO, and multiple VIMs. The OSS/BSS is an integrated information resource sharing support system of a telecommunication operator, mainly comprises parts such as Network management, system management, charging, business, accounting and customer service, is organically integrated together through a uniform information bus, and can send VNFD to NFVO when a new Virtual Network Function Descriptor (VNFD) is online. The NFVO is used for downloading the software image from the third-party server and sending the software image to the VIM. The VIM is responsible for managing various virtual resources, and in order to save VNF instantiation time, the VIM also manages and stores VNF software images.

It should be noted that the NFV system may further include an NFVI, a plurality of VNFs, and the like, which are not necessarily shown in the embodiment of the present application, and functional modules included in the NFV system are not limited to the embodiment shown in fig. 1.

The NFV system may be applied to implement various networks, for example, may be applied to a data center Network, an operator Network, or a local area Network to implement a Network Service (NS) with a specific function, and in the process of implementing the NS with a specific function, the NFV system may be flexibly deployed on computing hardware, storage hardware, and Network hardware in a hardware resource layer through a plurality of VNFs, that is, a process related to instantiation of the VNFs. During VNF instantiation, the NFVO will select the most suitable VIM and NFVI among the VIM and NFVI, and create a virtual machine in which the VNF can be deployed. The method and the device for creating the virtual machine software image require the corresponding software image, and the embodiment of the application can realize reasonable deployment of the software image through the following processing method of the VNF software image, improve the utilization rate of the VIM storage resource, provide reliable guarantee for subsequent deployment of the VNF in the VIM and the NFVI, and guarantee rapid instantiation of the VNF. The principle of realization and the effects of the realization can be seen in the following specific explanations of the embodiments.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a processing method of a software image of a VNF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and as shown in fig. 2, this embodiment relates to an NFVO and at least one VIM, where the at least one VIM is a VIM included in an NFV system, and the method of this embodiment may include:

step 101, the NFVO sends a first query message to at least one VIM.

Accordingly, each VIM receives the first query message sent by the NFVO.

The first query message is used to query whether a software image (swi) of the first VNF exists under a directory managed by each of the at least one VIM. The first VNF is a VNF described by a newly online VNFD file. The VNFD file may be sent by the OSS/BSS to the NFVO, and the NFVO obtains first information from the VNFD file, where the first information may be information related to the software image of the first VNF, for example, description information of the software image of the first VNF, and the software image may be determined according to the description information. Illustratively, the first information may include at least one of an identification (e.g., ID), a name, a version (version), or verification information of the software image. The check information is used to determine the correctness of the first information, and for example, the check information may be a checksum (checksum).

After receiving a newly online VNFD file, the NFVO in the prior art sends a software image to all VIMs according to information in the VNFD file, so that the software image is stored in storage directories of all VIMs. Different from the prior art, before sending a software image to a VIM, the NFVO in the embodiment of the present application queries whether the software image already exists in a directory managed by the VIM through a first query message, so as to avoid resource waste caused by sending the software image to the VIM that already has the software image.

It should be noted that different VNFs may have the same virtual environment dependency, and may use the same software image, so the software image of the first VNF in the embodiment of the present application may be the same as the software images of other VNFs, that is, the software image of the first VNF may have been stored in the corresponding VIM-managed directory in the previous process of on-line of the VNFD, and the embodiment of the present application queries whether the software image is already in the VIM-managed directory through the first query message.

In some embodiments, the first query message may include at least one of an identification, a name, a version (version), or verification information of the software image. The first query message may include the same information as the first information.

In some embodiments, the NFVO may download the software image of the first VNF from a corresponding server, which may be a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server, according to the first information before performing step 101.

In other embodiments, the NFVO may download the software image of the first VNF from a corresponding server (e.g., FTP server) after performing method steps 101 and 102 of the embodiments of the present application.

Step 102, at least one VIM sends a first feedback message to the NFVO.

Accordingly, the NFVO receives the first feedback message sent by the at least one VIM.

In an implementation manner, each VIM determines whether the software image of the first VNF exists in the self-managed directory according to the first query message in step 101, and if so, the VIM sends the first feedback message to the NFVO, where the first feedback message is used to indicate that the VIM stores the software image of the first VNF. Illustratively, the first feedback message may include an identification of the VIM. The identification of the VIM may uniquely locate one of the at least one VIM.

In another implementation manner, each VIM determines whether the software image of the first VNF exists in the self-managed directory according to the first query message in step 101, and each VIM sends the first feedback message to the NFVO, where the first feedback message may be used to indicate whether the VIM stores the software image of the first VNF. For example, the first feedback message may include an identification of the VIM and first indication information. The first indication information is used to indicate whether the software image of the first VNF is stored, for example, the first indication information is a bit, 1 indicates that the software image of the first VNF is stored, and 0 indicates that the software image of the first VNF is not stored.

Step 103, the NFVO sends the software image of the first VNF to the corresponding VIM according to the first feedback message.

The corresponding VIM may refer to a VIM of the at least one VIM that does not store the software image.

For example, the NFVO may determine that no VIM of the at least one VIM stores the software image based on a first feedback message sent by the at least one VIM. The NFVO sends the software image of the first VNF to the VIM that does not store the software image, such that the software image is stored closer to the VNF instance, to reduce the time of VNF instantiation.

In this embodiment, an NFVO sends a first query message to at least one VIM, where the first query message is used to query whether a software image of a first VNF exists in a directory managed by each VIM in the at least one VIM, the at least one VIM sends a first feedback message to the NFVO, and the NFVO sends the software image of the first VNF to the VIM that does not store the software image according to the first feedback message.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of another processing method of a software image of a VNF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and as shown in fig. 3, this embodiment relates to an NFVO and at least one VIM, where the at least one VIM is a VIM included in an NFV system, and the method of this embodiment may include:

step 201, the NFVO sends a second query message to at least one VIM.

Accordingly, each VIM receives the second query message sent by the NFVO.

The second query message is used to query whether resources of each of the at least one VIM meet deployment requirements of the first VNF. The first VNF is a VNF described by a newly online VNFD file. The VNFD file may be sent by the OSS/BSS to the NFVO, and the NFVO obtains second information from the VNFD file, where the second information may be information related to deployment of the first VNF, for example, requirement information of a deployment environment of the first VNF, and the VIM suitable for deploying the first VNF may be screened out according to the requirement information of the deployment environment. Illustratively, the second information is used to represent at least one of CPU resources, memory resources, hard disk resources, or network resources required by the first VNF when running, for example, the first information may include at least one of computing resource requirement information, network resource requirement information, or storage resource requirement information. The computing resource requirement information may be a number of processor cores, e.g., 3 cores. The second query message may carry the second information.

In some embodiments, the NFVO may download the software image of the first VNF from a corresponding server (e.g., FTP server) according to the first information before performing step 201.

In other embodiments, the NFVO may download the software image of the first VNF from a corresponding server (e.g., FTP server) after performing method steps 201 and 202 of the embodiments of the present application.

Step 202, at least one VIM sends a second feedback message to the NFVO.

Accordingly, the NFVO receives the second feedback message sent by the at least one VIM.

In an implementation manner, each VIM determines whether the virtual resources managed by the VIM can meet the requirement of the deployment environment of the first VNF according to the second query message in step 201, and if so, the VIM sends the second feedback message to the NFVO, where the second feedback message is used to indicate that the VIM can provide an instantiated deployment environment to the first VNF. Illustratively, the second feedback message may include an identification of the VIM. The identification of the VIM may uniquely locate one of the at least one VIM. The VIM identification of the second feedback message represents an identification of a VIM that satisfies the deployment requirements of the first VNF.

In another implementation manner, each VIM determines whether the virtual resources managed by the VIM can meet the requirement of the deployment environment of the first VNF according to the second query message in step 201, and each VIM sends the second feedback message to the NFVO, where the second feedback message may be used to indicate whether the VIM meets the requirement of the deployment environment of the first VNF. For example, the second feedback message may include an identification of the VIM and second indication information. The second indication information is used to indicate whether the requirements of the deployment environment of the first VNF are met, for example, the second indication information is a bit, 1 indicates that the requirements of the deployment environment of the first VNF are met, and 0 indicates that the requirements of the deployment environment of the first VNF are not met.

Step 203, the NFVO sends the software image of the first VNF to the corresponding VIM according to the second feedback message.

The respective VIM may refer to a VIM of the at least one VIM that may provide an instantiated deployment environment to the first VNF.

For example, the NFVO may determine, from a second feedback message sent by the at least one VIM, a VIM of the at least one VIM that may provide the instantiated deployment environment to the first VNF. The NFVO sends the software image of the first VNF to the VIM that can provide the instantiated deployment environment to the first VNF, so that the software image is stored in the VIM that meets the requirements of the deployment environment of the first VNF, to reduce the time of VNF instantiation.

In this embodiment, the NFVO sends a second query message to the at least one VIM, where the second query message is used to query whether resources of each VIM in the at least one VIM meet the deployment requirement of the first VNF, the at least one VIM sends a second feedback message to the NFVO, the NFVO sends the software image of the first VNF to a corresponding VIM according to the second feedback message, where the corresponding VIM may refer to a VIM in the at least one VIM that can provide an instantiated deployment environment to the first VNF, and in this embodiment, the VIM that meets the deployment environment of the first VNF is screened out through the second query message, and the software image is sent to the VIM that meets the deployment environment of the first VNF, so as to implement reasonable deployment of the software image and improve utilization rate of storage resources of the VIM.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of another processing method of a software image of a VNF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and as shown in fig. 4, this embodiment relates to an NFVO and at least one VIM, where the at least one VIM is a VIM included in an NFV system, and the method of this embodiment may include:

step 301, NFVO sends the first query message and the second query message to at least one VIM.

Accordingly, each VIM receives the first query message and the second query message sent by the NFVO.

For explanation of the first query message and the second query message, reference may be made to step 101 in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 and step 201 in the embodiment shown in fig. 3, respectively, which is not described herein again.

Step 302, at least one VIM sends a first feedback message and a second feedback message to the NFVO.

The NFVO receives the first feedback message and the second feedback message sent by the at least one VIM.

For explanation of the first feedback message and the second feedback message, reference may be made to step 102 in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 and step 202 in the embodiment shown in fig. 3, respectively, which is not described herein again.

Step 303, the NFVO sends the software image of the first VNF to the corresponding VIM according to the first feedback message and the second feedback message.

The corresponding VIM may refer to a VIM of the at least one VIM that does not store the software image and that can meet the deployment requirements of the first VNF.

For example, the NFVO may determine that none of the at least one VIM stores the software image according to a first feedback message sent by the at least one VIM, e.g., the VIM that does not store the software image includes VIM a, VIM B, and VIM C. The NFVO may determine, from a second feedback message sent by the at least one VIM, that the VIM of the at least one VIM that may provide the instantiated deployment environment to the first VNF, e.g., the VIM that may provide the instantiated deployment environment to the first VNF includes VIM a and VIM B. The NFVO may determine, according to the detection result, that the VIM that does not store the software image and can meet the deployment requirement of the first VNF includes VIM a and VIM B. The NFVO sends the software image of the first VNF to the VIM a and the VIM B, so that the NFVO sends the software image of the first VNF to the VIM that does not store the software image and meets the requirements of the deployment environment of the first VNF, thereby reducing the time for VNF instantiation.

It should be noted that in another implementation manner of the foregoing step 301 and step 302, the NFVO may send the first query message to at least one VIM, at least one VIM sends the first feedback message to the NFVO, the NFVO may send the second query message to at least one VIM, and at least one VIM sends the second feedback message to the NFVO. In another implementation, the NFVO may send the second query message to at least one VIM, the at least one VIM sends the second feedback message to the NFVO, the NFVO may send the first query message to the at least one VIM, and the at least one VIM sends the first feedback message to the NFVO. That is, the sending order of the first query message and the second query message can be flexibly set.

In this embodiment, an NFVO sends a first query message and a second query message to at least one VIM, the at least one VIM sends a first feedback message and a second feedback message to the NFVO, the NFVO sends a software image of a first VNF to a corresponding VIM according to the first feedback message and the second feedback message, the corresponding VIM refers to a VIM that does not store the software image but can meet a deployment requirement of the first VNF in the at least one VIM, the present embodiment screens out, through the first query message and the second query message, a VIM that does not store the software image but meets a deployment environment of the first VNF, and sends the software image to the VIM, so as to avoid repeated sending of the software image, implement reasonable deployment of the software image, and improve utilization of storage resources of the VIM.

The following describes the technical solution of the embodiment of the method shown in fig. 4 in detail by using a specific embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of another processing method of a software image of a VNF according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 5, this embodiment relates to an OSS/BSS, an NFVO, at least one VIM included in an NFV system, and an FTP server, where the at least one VIM is a VIM included in the NFV system, and the method of this embodiment may include:

step 401, the OSS/BSS sends a VNF packet upload request to the NFVO.

Correspondingly, the NFVO receives an upload VNF package request (UploadVnfPackageRequest) sent by the OSS/BSS. To instantiate the first VNF, the OSS/BSS sends an upload VNF package request to the NFVO, where the upload VNF package request carries a VNF package, and the VNF package includes the VNFD file described in the above embodiment, and the VNFD file is used to describe the first VNF. The NFVO may obtain the first information and the second information as described above from the VNFD file. For the explanation of the first information and the second information, reference may be made to step 101 in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 and step 201 in the embodiment shown in fig. 3, which are not described again here.

Step 402, the NFVO sends a VNF packet upload response to the OSS/BSS.

Accordingly, the OSS/BSS receives an upload VNF packet response (UploadVnfPackageResponse) sent by the NFVO. The upload VNF packet response may be used to indicate successful receipt of the VNF packet.

And step 403, the NFVO downloads the mirror image software from the FTP server according to the first information.

Step 404, the NFVO sends a first query message to at least one VIM.

For an explanation of the first query message, reference may be made to step 101 in the embodiment shown in fig. 2, which is not described herein again. This first query message may also be referred to as a query software mirror request (checkswirrequest). The first query message may include at least one of an identification, a name, a version (version), or check information of the software image.

Step 405, each VIM determines whether it stores the software image according to the first query message.

At least one VIM sends a first feedback message to the NFVO, step 406.

And at least one VIM storing the software image sends the first feedback message to the NFVO, wherein the first feedback message is used for indicating that the VIM stores the software image. The first feedback message may include an identification of the VIM. This first feedback message may also be referred to as a query software mirror response (CheckSwiResponse).

Illustratively, the NFVO may maintain a list of VIM identifications from the first feedback message sent by the at least one VIM. The VIM identification list includes an identification of at least one VIM that stores the software image.

Step 407, the NFVO sends a second query message to at least one VIM.

The second query message is used to query whether resources of each of the at least one VIM meet deployment requirements of the first VNF. For an explanation of the second query message, reference may be made to step 201 in the embodiment shown in fig. 3, which is not described herein again. This second query message may also be referred to as a capability check request (CapabilityCheckRequest).

This step is to detect which VIMs of the at least one VIM may provide the needed resources and a suitable deployment environment for the VNF, in other words, to detect in which virtual resources managed by the VIM the VNF may be deployed. The detection in this step is directed to the detection of computing resources, network resources, storage resources, and the like.

Step 408, the at least one VIM sends a second feedback message to the NFVO.

The at least one VIM, which may provide the instantiated deployment environment to the first VNF, sends the NFVO the second feedback message indicating that the VIM may provide the instantiated deployment environment to the first VNF. The second feedback message may include an identification of the VIM. This second feedback message may also be referred to as a capability check response (capabilitychecksponse).

For example, the NFVO may maintain a list of VIM identifications from the second feedback message sent by the at least one VIM. The VIM identification list includes an identification of at least one VIM that may provide the instantiated deployment environment to the first VNF.

Step 409, the NFVO determines the VIM that neither stores the software image nor can meet the deployment requirements of the first VNF.

The NFVO may determine, according to the query result of step 406 and the detection result of step 408, that the VIM that does not store the software image and can satisfy the deployment requirement of the first VNF is not stored.

Step 410, NFVO sends an add software image request to VIM determined in step 409.

The add software image request (addsoftware image request) carries the software image downloaded in step 403.

Step 411, at least one VIM sends an add software image response to the NFVO.

Receiving the VIM of the software image sent in step 410, send an add software image response (addsoftware image response) to the NFVO.

The NFVO may further maintain a record table in which a correspondence between the software image and the VNFD and the stored VIM is recorded, and after the corresponding VIM stores the software image, the NFVO adds the correspondence between the software image and the corresponding VIM to the record table. Illustratively, the record table may be as shown in table 1 below.

Table 1 record table

As shown in table 1, the record table may include a software image Identification (ID) column, a VNFD Identification (ID) column, and a storage VIM Identification (ID) column, which is used to indicate a VIM storing a corresponding software image. As illustrated by the second example of behavior in table 1 above, the second row indicates that the software image a corresponding to VNFD1 is stored in VIM a.

In this embodiment, through the above steps, the VIM that does not store the software image but satisfies the deployment environment of the first VNF may be screened out, and the software image is sent to the VIM, so as to avoid repeated sending of the software image, implement reasonable distributed deployment of the software image, and improve the utilization rate of the storage resource of the VIM.

Optionally, the embodiment of the present application may further implement deletion of the software image when the VNFD is offline by the following steps.

Step 412, the OSS/BSS sends a delete VNF packet request to the NFVO.

Accordingly, the NFVO receives a VNF package deletion request (deletevnfppackagerequest) sent by the OSS/BSS. The VNF package delete request (deletevnfppackagerequest) may carry the VNFD identification.

Step 413, NFVO sends delete VNF package response (deletevnfpackageresponses) to OSS/BSS.

The NFVO compares the VNFD identifier carried in the step 412 with the VNFD and software image columns in the record table, and if the software image corresponding to the VNFD identifier only corresponds to the VNFD, the software image under the corresponding catalog managed by the VIM needs to be deleted.

For example, assuming that the identifier carried in step 412 is VNFD1, if the software image corresponding to VNFD1 in the record table only corresponds to VNFD1, the software image under the directory managed by the corresponding VIM may be deleted. Assuming that the record table is shown in table 1, the software image corresponding to VNFD1 is software image a, and the software image a also corresponds to VNFD 2, so the software image a cannot be deleted.

When the software image under the directory managed by the corresponding VIM needs to be deleted, the corresponding software image can be deleted by the following steps 414 and 415.

Step 414, the NFVO sends a delete software image request to the at least one VIM.

The delete software image request (deletesoft ware instance request) carries an identification of the software image. At least one VIM in this step may be a VIM storing the software image.

Step 415, at least one VIM sends a delete software image response to the NFVO.

The delete software image response (deletesoft ware image response) may be used to indicate that the software image deletion was successful.

According to the embodiment of the application, when the VNFD file is offline, the software image can be deleted through the steps, so that the software image can be reasonably deployed, and the utilization rate of the storage resource of the VIM is improved.

On the basis of any of the above embodiments, a method for processing a software image of a VNF shown in the above method embodiment is described below with reference to fig. 6 by way of a specific example.

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of a processing procedure of a software image of a VNF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and as shown in fig. 6, the processing procedure includes an OSS/BSS, an NFVO, an FTP server, and three VIMs.

Referring to fig. 6, when the OSS/BSS has a new VNFD file online, the VNFD file may be sent to the NFVO through step 401, where the VNFD file includes information related to a software image of the VNF, such as a software image (swi) of a dashed box shown in fig. 6, the NFVO downloads the software image from the FTP server according to the information related to the software image of the VNF, that is, the software image (swi) of a solid box shown in fig. 6, the NFVO queries, through steps 404 to 408, whether the VIM stores the corresponding software image, and detects whether the VIM satisfies a deployment requirement of the VNF, that is, a query path shown in fig. 6, that is, queries and detects the three VIMs, the NFVO determines, according to feedback of the three VIMs, that the software image is not stored, and the VIM that can satisfy the deployment requirement of the VNF, for example, the VIM is a second VIM, and the NFVO sends software to the second VIM, that is, as shown in fig. 6, the software image is sent to a second VIM.

The embodiment can avoid repeated sending of the software mirror image, realize reasonable distributed deployment of the software mirror image and improve the utilization rate of the storage resource of the VIM.

When the NFVO needs to manage multiple VNFs, as the multiple VNFs are instantiated, the VIM that may originally deploy a VNF instance may not be able to deploy an originally deployed VNF instance due to a change in available resources and a change in a deployment environment, and a software image of the VNF instance stored in the VIM directory needs to be deleted to optimize storage resources of the VIM, which is described in the following embodiments.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of another processing method of a software image of a VNF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and as shown in fig. 7, this embodiment relates to an NFVO and at least one VIM, where the at least one VIM is a VIM included in an NFV system, and the method of this embodiment may include:

step 501, NFVO sends a third query message to at least one first VIM.

At least one first VIM receives a third query message sent by the NFVO, where the third query message is used to query whether resources of the first VIM meet the deployment requirement of the first VNF, and the first VIM is a VIM that deploys the first VNF. The embodiment detects, through the third query message, whether the first VIM can still provide an instantiated deployment environment for the first VNF, that is, whether the first VIM can provide at least one of computing resources, network resources, or storage resources required for satisfying the instantiation of the first VIM to the first VNF.

The third query message may carry the second information as described above, and the explanation of the second information may refer to step 201 in the embodiment shown in fig. 3, which is not described herein again.

The computing, network or storage resources of at least one first VIM are detected via the third query message.

The third query message may be sent periodically or may be triggered by other resource-related operations.

Step 502, at least one first VIM sends a third feedback message to the NFVO.

The third feedback message is used to indicate that the resource managed by the VIM has changed. For example, the third feedback message is used to indicate that the resources managed by the VIM are changed but still can meet the deployment requirement of the first VNF, or the third feedback message is used to indicate that the resources managed by the VIM are changed and cannot meet the deployment requirement of the first VNF.

Step 503, the NFVO determines at least one second VIM according to the third feedback message.

And the NFVO determines at least one second VIM, which cannot meet the deployment requirement of the first VNF, in the at least one first VIM according to the third feedback message.

Step 504, the NFVO sends a delete software image request to the at least one second VIM.

The delete software image request (deletesoft ware instance request) carries an identification of the software image.

And step 505, at least one second VIM sends a software image deleting response to the NFVO.

Through the steps, when the resource managed by the VIM changes, whether the VIM can provide the deployment position for the VNF is confirmed again, and if the resource managed by the VIM cannot provide the deployment position for the VNF, the mirror image stored in the VIM is deleted, so that the use efficiency of the storage resource in the VIM is further improved.

Fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a processing apparatus 800 for software mirroring of a virtual network function according to an embodiment of the present application. The processing device 800 of the software image according to the present embodiment may be the NFVO according to the above method embodiment, and the processing device 800 of the software image includes a transceiver 801 and a processing unit 802.

In one embodiment, the units of the processing device 800 of the software image are respectively configured to perform the following operations and/or processes.

A transceiving unit 801, configured to send at least one of a first query message or a second query message to at least one virtual resource manager VIM, where the first query message is used to query whether a software image of a first virtual network function VNF exists under a directory managed by each VIM in the at least one VIM, and the second query message is used to query whether resources of each VIM in the at least one VIM meet a deployment requirement of the first VNF.

The transceiving unit 801 is further configured to receive at least one of a first feedback message or a second feedback message sent by at least one VIM.

A processing unit 802, configured to send, according to at least one of the first feedback message or the second feedback message, a software image of the first VNF to a corresponding VIM through the transceiving unit 801; wherein the first VNF is a VNF described by a newly online Virtual Network Function Descriptor (VNFD) file.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 802 is configured to determine, according to the first feedback message, a VIM in the at least one VIM that does not store the software image of the first VNF, and send, through the transceiver unit 801, the software image of the first VNF to the VIM that does not store the software image of the first VNF; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the processing unit 802 is configured to determine, according to the second feedback message, a VIM of the at least one VIM that meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF, and send, through the transceiver unit 801, a software image of the first VNF to the VIM that meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the processing unit 802 is configured to determine, according to the first feedback message, a VIM in the at least one VIM that does not store the software image of the first VNF, determine, according to the second feedback message, a VIM in the at least one VIM that meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF, and send, through the transceiver unit 801, the software image of the first VNF to the first VIM that does not store the software image of the first VNF and meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 802 is further configured to add the software image and the corresponding VIM correspondence to a record table.

In one possible implementation, the correspondence between the software image and the corresponding VIM includes an identifier of the software image, an identifier of the VNFD, and an identifier of the corresponding VIM.

In one possible implementation, the first query message includes at least one of an identification, a name, a version, or verification information of the software image.

In one possible implementation, the first feedback message includes an identification of a VIM that stores a software image of the first VNF.

In one possible implementation, the second feedback message includes an identification of a VIM that satisfies deployment requirements of the first VNF.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiving unit 801 is further configured to receive a third feedback message, where the third feedback message is used to indicate that resources managed by the VIM are changed; the processing unit 802 is further configured to determine, according to the third feedback message, a second VIM, where the second VIM is a VIM of the at least one VIM that requires deletion of the software image of the first VNF; the transceiving unit 801 is further configured to send a deletion request message to the second VIM, where the deletion request message is used to delete the software image of the first VNF.

In a possible implementation, the transceiving unit 801 is further configured to send a third query message to the at least one VIM, where the third query message is used to query whether the resources of the first VIM meet the deployment requirement of the first VNF.

Optionally, the apparatus 800 may further comprise a storage unit 803 for storing a computer program for execution by the processing unit.

Alternatively, the processing device 800 of the software image may also have other functions of the NFVO in the method embodiment. Similar remarks may be made with reference to the description of the method embodiments described above. To avoid repetition, further description is omitted here.

Alternatively, the processing unit 802 may be a processor and the transceiving unit 801 may be a transceiver. The transceiver includes a receiver and a transmitter, and has both transmitting and receiving functions.

Alternatively, the processing unit 802 may be a processing device, and the functions of the processing device may be partially or wholly implemented by software.

In one possible implementation, the functionality of the processing means may be implemented partly or wholly in software. At this time, the processing device may include a memory and a processor. The memory is used for storing computer programs, and the processor reads and executes the computer programs stored in the memory to execute the steps implemented by the NFVO in the method embodiments.

Optionally, in one possible implementation, the processing means comprises a processor. The memory for storing the computer program is located outside the processing device and the processor is connected to the memory by means of circuits/wires to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory.

In another embodiment, the processing device 800 of the software image may be a chip. In this case, the transceiver 801 may specifically be a communication interface or a transceiver circuit.

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the steps and/or processes performed by the NFVO in any of the above method embodiments.

The present application further provides a computer program product comprising computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the steps and/or processes performed by the NFVO in any of the above-described method embodiments.

The present application further provides a chip comprising a processor. A memory for storing the computer program is provided separately from the chip, and a processor is configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the steps and/or processes performed by the NFVO in any of the method embodiments.

Further, the chip may also include a memory and a communication interface. The communication interface may be an input/output interface, a pin or an input/output circuit, etc.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a processing apparatus 900 for software mirroring according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 9, the processing device 900 of the software image may be the NFVO referred to in the above embodiments. The software mirrored processing device 900 includes a processor 901 and a transceiver 902.

Optionally, the processing device 900 of the software image further comprises a memory 903. The processor 901, the transceiver 902 and the memory 903 may communicate with each other through an internal connection path to transmit a control signal and/or a data signal.

The memory 903 is used for storing computer programs, among other things. The processor 901 is configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory 903, thereby implementing each function in the above-described apparatus embodiments.

Alternatively, the memory 903 may be integrated in the processor 901 or separate from the processor 901.

The above device embodiment may be used to implement the technical solution of the NFVO in the method embodiment, and the implementation principle and the technical effect are similar, which are not described herein again.

Fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a processing apparatus 1000 for software mirroring of a virtual network function according to an embodiment of the present application. The processing apparatus 1000 of the software image according to the present embodiment may be the VIM according to the above method embodiment, and the processing apparatus 1000 of the software image includes a transceiver unit 1001 and a processing unit 1002.

In one embodiment, the units of the processing device 1000 of the software image are respectively configured to perform the following operations and/or processes.

The transceiving unit 1001 is configured to receive at least one of a first query message and a second query message sent by a network function virtualization orchestrator NFVO, where the first query message is used to query whether a software image of a first virtual network function VNF exists in a directory managed by the VIM, and the second query message is used to query whether resources of the VIM meet a deployment requirement of the first VNF.

The processing unit 1002 is configured to send, to the NFVO, at least one of a first feedback message or a second feedback message through the transceiving unit, where the at least one of the first feedback message or the second feedback message is used to determine whether the NFVO sends a software image of a first VNF to the VIM. Wherein the first VNF is a VNF described by a newly online Virtual Network Function Descriptor (VNFD) file.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 1002 is further configured to send, through the transceiving unit 1001, a third feedback message to the NFVO, where the third feedback message is used to indicate that the resource managed by the VIM is changed.

The transceiver 1001 is further configured to receive a deletion request message sent by the NFVO, where the deletion request message is used to delete the software image of the first VNF.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiving unit 1001 is further configured to receive a third query message sent by the NFVO, where the third query message is used to query whether the resource of the VIM meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF.

Optionally, the apparatus 1000 may further comprise a storage unit 1003 for storing the computer program for execution by the processing unit.

Alternatively, the processing device 1000 of the software image may also have other functions of the VIM in the method embodiment. Similar remarks may be made with reference to the description of the method embodiments described above. To avoid repetition, further description is omitted here.

Alternatively, the processing unit 1002 may be a processor and the transceiving unit 1001 may be a transceiver. The transceiver includes a receiver and a transmitter, and has both transmitting and receiving functions.

Alternatively, the processing unit 1002 may be a processing device, and the functions of the processing device may be partially or wholly implemented by software.

In one possible implementation, the functionality of the processing means may be implemented partly or wholly in software. At this time, the processing device may include a memory and a processor. The memory is used for storing computer programs, and the processor reads and executes the computer programs stored in the memory to execute the steps realized by the VIM in each method embodiment.

In another embodiment, the processing device 1000 of the software image may be a chip. In this case, the transceiver 1001 may be a communication interface or a transceiver circuit.

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the steps and/or processes performed by the VIM in any of the above method embodiments.

The present application further provides a computer program product comprising computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the steps and/or processes performed by the VIM in any of the above method embodiments.

The present application further provides a chip comprising a processor. A memory for storing the computer program is provided separately from the chip, and a processor is used to execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the steps and/or processes performed by the VIM in any of the method embodiments.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a processing apparatus 1100 for software mirroring according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 11, the processing device 1100 of the software image may be the VIM involved in the above embodiments. The processing device 1100 of the software image includes a processor 1101 and a transceiver 1102.

Optionally, the processing device 1100 of the software image further comprises a memory 1103. The processor 1101, the transceiver 1102 and the memory 1103 can communicate with each other through the internal connection path to transmit control signals and/or data signals.

The memory 1103 is used for storing a computer program. The processor 1101 is configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory 1103, thereby implementing each function in the above-described apparatus embodiments.

Alternatively, the memory 1103 may be integrated within the processor 1101, or separate from the processor 1101.

The above device embodiment may be used to implement the technical solution of the VIM in the method embodiment, and the implementation principle and technical effect are similar, which are not described herein again.

The processor mentioned in the above embodiments may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capability. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The processor may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, or discrete hardware components. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware encoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the encoding processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor.

The memory referred to in the various embodiments above may be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM, enhanced SDRAM, SLDRAM, Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including instructions for causing a computer device (personal computer, server, network device, or the like) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

Claims

1. A method for processing a software image of a virtual network function, comprising:

a network function virtualization orchestrator NFVO sends at least one of a first query message or a second query message to at least one virtual resource manager VIM, the first query message being used to query whether a software image of a first virtual network function VNF exists under a directory managed by each VIM of the at least one VIM, and the second query message being used to query whether resources of each VIM of the at least one VIM meet deployment requirements of the first VNF;

the NFVO receives at least one of a first feedback message or a second feedback message sent by at least one VIM;

the NFVO sends a software image of the first VNF to a corresponding VIM according to at least one of the first feedback message or the second feedback message;

wherein the first VNF is a VNF described by a newly online Virtual Network Function Descriptor (VNFD) file.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the NFVO sending the software image of the first VNF to the corresponding VIM according to at least one of the first feedback message or the second feedback message, comprising:

the NFVO determines, according to the first feedback message, a VIM of the at least one VIM that does not store the software image of the first VNF, and the NFVO sends the software image of the first VNF to the VIM that does not store the software image of the first VNF; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the NFVO determines, according to the second feedback message, a VIM of the at least one VIM that meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF, and the NFVO sends a software image of the first VNF to the VIM that meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the NFVO determines, according to the first feedback message, a VIM of the at least one VIM that does not store the software image of the first VNF, and determines, according to the second feedback message, a VIM of the at least one VIM that meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF, and the NFVO sends the software image of the first VNF to the first VIM that does not store the software image of the first VNF and meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first feedback message is used to indicate that the VIM stores a software image of the first VNF.

4. The method of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second feedback message is used to indicate that the VIM meets the deployment requirements of the first VNF.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising:

the NFVO receives a third feedback message, wherein the third feedback message is used for indicating that the resource managed by the VIM is changed;

the NFVO determines a second VIM according to the third feedback message, where the second VIM is a VIM of the at least one VIM that requires deletion of the software image of the first VNF;

the NFVO sends a delete request message to the second VIM, where the delete request message is used to delete the software image of the first VNF.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

the NFVO sends a third query message to the at least one VIM, the third query message for querying whether the resources of the first VIM meet the deployment requirements of the first VNF.

7. A method for processing a software image of a virtual network function, comprising:

a virtual resource manager (VIM) receives at least one of a first query message or a second query message sent by a Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO), wherein the first query message is used for querying whether a software image of a first Virtual Network Function (VNF) exists in a directory managed by the VIM, and the second query message is used for querying whether resources of the VIM meet the deployment requirement of the first VNF;

the VIM sending at least one of a first feedback message or a second feedback message to the NFVO, the at least one of the first feedback message or the second feedback message for determining whether the NFVO sends a software image of a first VNF to the VIM;

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first feedback message is used to indicate that the VIM stores a software image of the first VNF.

9. The method of claim 7 or 8, wherein the second feedback message is used to indicate that the VIM meets the deployment requirements of the first VNF.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, further comprising:

the VIM sends a third feedback message to the NFVO, wherein the third feedback message is used for indicating that the resources managed by the VIM are changed;

and the VIM receives a deletion request message sent by the NFVO, wherein the deletion request message is used for deleting the software image of the first VNF.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

the VIM receives a third query message sent by the NFVO, where the third query message is used to query whether resources of the VIM meet deployment requirements of the first VNF.

12. A processing device for virtualizing a software image of a network function, said processing device acting as a network function virtualization orchestrator NFVO, said device comprising:

a transceiving unit, configured to send at least one of a first query message or a second query message to at least one virtual resource manager VIM, where the first query message is used to query whether a software image of a first virtual network function VNF exists under a directory managed by each VIM in the at least one VIM, and the second query message is used to query whether resources of each VIM in the at least one VIM meet a deployment requirement of the first VNF;

the transceiver unit is further configured to receive at least one of a first feedback message or a second feedback message sent by at least one VIM;

a processing unit, configured to send, by the transceiver unit, a software image of the first VNF to a corresponding VIM according to at least one of the first feedback message or the second feedback message;

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the processing unit is configured to determine, according to the first feedback message, a VIM of the at least one VIM that does not store the software image of the first VNF, and send, through the transceiving unit, the software image of the first VNF to the VIM that does not store the software image of the first VNF; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the processing unit is configured to determine, according to the second feedback message, a VIM of the at least one VIM that meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF, and send, through the transceiver unit, a software image of the first VNF to the VIM that meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the processing unit is configured to determine, according to the first feedback message, a VIM of the at least one VIM that does not store the software image of the first VNF, determine, according to the second feedback message, a VIM of the at least one VIM that meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF, and send, through the transceiver unit, the software image of the first VNF to the first VIM, where the first VIM does not store the software image of the first VNF and meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a third feedback message indicating a change in resources managed by the VIM;

the processing unit is further configured to determine a second VIM according to the third feedback message, where the second VIM is a VIM of the at least one VIM that requires deletion of the software image of the first VNF;

the transceiver unit is further configured to send a deletion request message to the second VIM, where the deletion request message is used to delete the software image of the first VNF.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to send a third query message to the at least one VIM, the third query message being configured to query whether the resources of the first VIM meet deployment requirements of the first VNF.

16. A processing apparatus for software mirroring of virtual network functions, the processing apparatus acting as a virtual resource manager, VIM, the apparatus comprising:

the receiving and sending unit is configured to receive at least one of a first query message or a second query message sent by a network function virtualization orchestrator NFVO, where the first query message is used to query whether a software image of a first virtual network function VNF exists in a directory managed by the VIM, and the second query message is used to query whether resources of the VIM meet a deployment requirement of the first VNF;

the processing unit is configured to send, to the NFVO, at least one of a first feedback message or a second feedback message through the transceiving unit, where the at least one of the first feedback message or the second feedback message is used to determine whether the NFVO sends a software image of a first VNF to the VIM;

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processing unit is further configured to send, by the transceiving unit, a third feedback message to the NFVO, the third feedback message indicating that the VIM-managed resource changes;

the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a deletion request message sent by the NFVO, where the deletion request message is used to delete the software image of the first VNF.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the transceiving unit is further configured to receive a third query message sent by the NFVO, and wherein the third query message is configured to query whether the resource of the VIM meets the deployment requirement of the first VNF.

19. A computer program product, comprising a computer program which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 6.

20. A computer program product, comprising a computer program which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 7 to 11.