EP3476080A2

EP3476080A2 - Device and method for nfv life cycle management

Info

Publication number: EP3476080A2
Application number: EP16906493.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Joey Chou
Original assignee: Intel IP Corp
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2016-06-23
Filing date: 2016-12-28
Publication date: 2019-05-01
Also published as: EP3476080A4; CN109314649A; WO2017222595A2; WO2017222595A3

Abstract

Devices and methods of providing NFV life cycle management are generally described. An apparatus for an element manager (EM) can include memory and processing circuitry to provide, to a virtual network function (VNF) manager (VNFM), a request to create a VNF identifier, the request including a VNF descriptor identifier; receive a response to the request, the response including an instance identifier to indicate creation of an instance of a VNF information element; provide a request to instantiate the VNF subsequent to receiving the response, the request to instantiate the VNF including the instance identifier; and receive a response to the request to instantiate the VNF subsequent to providing the request, the response including a lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of the VNF. Other devices and methods are also disclosed.

Description

DEVICE AND METHOD FOR NFV LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT

PRIORITY CLAFM

[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority to United

States Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 62/353,976, filed June 23, 2016, and entitled "IMPLEMENTING LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT IN THE NFV," which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] Embodiments pertain to radio access networks. Some embodiments relate to Network Function Virtualization (NFV) in cellular networks, including Third Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (3 GPP LTE) networks and LTE advanced (LTE-A) networks as well as 4th generation (4G) networks and 5th generation (5G) networks. Some embodiments relate to NFV lifecycle management.

BACKGROUND

[0003] The use of 3 GPP LTE systems (including LTE and LTE- Advanced systems) has increased due to both an increase in the types of devices user equipment (UEs) using network resources as well as the amount of data and bandwidth being used by various applications, such as video streaming, operating on these UEs. As a result, 3GPP LTE systems continue to develop, with the next generation wireless communication system, 5G, to improve access to information and data sharing. 5G looks to provide a unified network/system that is able to meet vastly different and sometime conflicting performance dimensions and services driven by disparate services and applications while maintaining compatibility with legacy UEs and applications.

[0004] With the vast increase in number and diversity of communication devices, the corresponding network environment, including routers, switches, bridges, gateways, firewalls, and load balancers, has become increasingly complicated. To add complexity to the variety of services provided by the network devices, many physical implementations of the network devices are proprietary and may be unable to incorporate new or adjusted physical components to compensate for different network conditions. This has led to the development of Network Function

Virtualization (NFV), which can provide a virtualized environment able to provide any network function or service able to be delivered on

Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) servers in a data center as software applications called Virtual Network Functions (VNFs). The use of NFV can provide flexibility in configuring network elements, enabling dynamic network optimization and quicker adaptation of new technologies.

However, management of VNFs, including activation/deactivation and adjustment or modification, using legacy 3GPP management systems is difficult and can negatively impact legacy systems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0005] In the figures, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numerals can describe similar components in different views. Like numerals having different letter suffixes can represent different instances of similar components. The figures illustrate generally, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, various embodiments discussed in the present document.

[0006] FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of a wireless network in accordance with some embodiments.

[0007] FIG. 2 illustrates components of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0008] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0009] FIG. 4 illustrates another block diagram of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0010] FIG. 5 illustrates a NFV network management architecture in accordance with some embodiments.

[0011] FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of VNF instantiation subsequent to an on-boarding request from a network manager (NM) in accordance with some embodiments. [0012] FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of VNF scaling in accordance with some embodiments.

[0013] FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of a VNF termination in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments can incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments can be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments. Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

[0015] FIG. 1 shows an example of a portion of an end-to-end network architecture of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network with various components of the network in accordance with some embodiments. At least some of the network devices with which the UEs 102 are connected and that provide network functionality, such as the gateways and other servers, can be provided as part of a NFVI rather than using physical hardware components, as described herein. As used herein, an LTE network refers to both LTE and LTE Advanced (LTE-A) networks as well as other versions of LTE networks to be developed. The network 100 can comprise a radio access network (RAN) (e.g., as depicted, the E-UTRAN or evolved universal terrestrial radio access network) 101 and core network 120 (e.g., shown as an evolved packet core (EPC)) coupled together through an SI interface 1 15. For convenience and brevity, only a portion of the core network 120, as well as the RAN 101, is shown in the example.

[0016] The core network 120 can include a mobility management entity (MME) 122, serving gateway (serving GW) 124, and packet data network gateway (PDN GW) 126. The RAN 101 can include evolved node Bs (eNBs) 104 (which can operate as base stations) for communicating with user equipment (UE) 102. The eNBs 104 can include macro eNBs 104a and low power (LP) eNBs 104b. The eNBs 104 and UEs 102 can employ the techniques as described herein. [0017] The MME 122 can be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving GPRS Support Nodes (SGSN). The MME 122 can manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The serving GW 124 can terminate the interface toward the RAN 101, and route data packets between the RAN 101 and the core network 120. In addition, the serving GW 124 can be a local mobility anchor point for inter-eNB handovers and also can provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities can include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. The serving GW 124 and the MME 122 can be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes.

[0018] The PDN GW 126 can terminate a SGi interface toward the packet data network (PDN). The PDN GW 126 can route data packets between the EPC 120 and the external PDN, and can perform policy enforcement and charging data collection. The PDN GW 126 can also provide an anchor point for mobility devices with non-LTE access. The external PDN can be any kind of IP network, as well as an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) domain. The PDN GW 126 and the serving GW 124 can be implemented in a single physical node or separate physical nodes.

[0019] The eNBs 104 (macro and micro) can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for a UE 102. In some embodiments, an eNB 104 can fulfill various logical functions for the RAN 101 including, but not limited to, RNC (radio network controller functions) such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility

management. In accordance with embodiments, UEs 102 can be configured to communicate orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) communication signals with an eNB 104 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with an OFDMA communication technique. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonal sub carriers.

[0020] The SI interface 115 can be the interface that separates the RAN 101 and the EPC 120. It can be split into two parts: the Sl-U, which can carry traffic data between the eNBs 104 and the serving GW 124, and the Sl-MME, which can be a signaling interface between the eNBs 104 and the MME 122. The X2 interface can be the interface between eNBs 104. The X2 interface can comprise two parts, the X2-C and X2-U. The X2-C can be the control plane interface between the eNBs 104, while the X2-U can be the user plane interface between the eNBs 104.

[0021] With cellular networks, LP cells 104b can be typically used to extend coverage to indoor areas where outdoor signals do not reach well, or to add network capacity in areas with dense usage. In particular, it may be desirable to enhance the coverage of a wireless communication system using cells of different sizes, macrocells, microcells, picocells, and femtocells, to boost system performance. The cells of different sizes can operate on the same frequency band, or can operate on different frequency bands with each cell operating in a different frequency band or only cells of different sizes operating on different frequency bands. As used herein, the term LP eNB refers to any suitable relatively LP eNB for implementing a smaller cell (smaller than a macro cell) such as a femtocell, a picocell, or a microcell. Femtocell eNBs can be typically provided by a mobile network operator to its residential or enterprise customers. A femtocell can be typically the size of a residential gateway or smaller and generally connect to a broadband line. The femtocell can connect to the mobile operator's mobile network and provide extra coverage in a range of typically 30 to 50 meters. Thus, a LP eNB 104b might be a femtocell eNB since it is coupled through the PDN GW 126. Similarly, a picocell can be a wireless communication system typically covering a small area, such as in-building (offices, shopping malls, train stations, etc.), or more recently in-aircraft. A picocell eNB can generally connect through the X2 link to another eNB such as a macro eNB through its base station controller (BSC)

functionality. Thus, LP eNB can be implemented with a picocell eNB since it can be coupled to a macro eNB 104a via an X2 interface. Picocell eNBs or other LP eNBs LP eNB 104b can incorporate some or all functionality of a macro eNB LP eNB 104a. In some cases, this can be referred to as an access point base station or enterprise femtocell.

[0022] The core network 120 can also contain a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) (not shown) and a Home location register (HLR) (not shown). The PCRF can determine policy rules in the network core and accesses subscriber databases and other specialized functions, such as a charging system, in a centralized manner. The PCRF can aggregate information to and from the network, OSSs, and other sources, making policy decisions for each network subscriber active. The HLR is a central database that contains details of each subscriber that is authorized to use the core network 120.

[0023] Embodiments described herein can be implemented into a system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software. FIG. 2 illustrates components of a UE in accordance with some embodiments. At least some of the components shown can be used in the UE 102 (or e B 104 or FV entity) shown in FIG. 1. The UE 200 and other components can be configured to use the synchronization signals as described herein. The UE 200 can be one of the UEs 102 shown in FIG. 1 and can be a stationary, non-mobile device or can be a mobile device. In some embodiments, the UE 200 can include application circuitry 202, baseband circuitry 204, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 206, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 208 and one or more antennas 210, coupled together at least as shown. At least some of the baseband circuitry 204, RF circuitry 206, and FEM circuitry 208 can form a transceiver. In some embodiments, other network elements, such as the eNB can contain some or all of the components shown in FIG. 2. Other of the network elements, such as the MME, can contain an interface, such as the SI interface, to communicate with the eNB over a wired connection regarding the UE.

[0024] The application circuitry 202 can include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 202 can include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) can include any combination of general- purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processors can be coupled with and/or can include memory/storage and can be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications

and/or operating systems to run on the system. [0025] The baseband circuitry 204 can include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 204 can include one or more baseband processors and/or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 206 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 206. Baseband circuitry 204 can interface with the application circuitry 202 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 206. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 204 can include a second generation (2G) baseband circuitry 204a, third generation (3G) baseband circuitry 204b, fourth generation (4G) baseband circuitry 204c, and/or other baseband circuitry 204d for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., fifth generation (5G), 5G, etc.). The baseband circuitry 204 (e.g., one or more of baseband circuitry 204a-d) can handle various radio control functions that

enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 206. The radio control functions can include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio

frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 204 can include FFT, precoding, and/or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 204 can include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, and/or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and can include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

[0026] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 204 can include elements of a protocol stack such as, for example, elements of an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) protocol including, for example, physical (PHY), media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and/or radio resource control (RRC) elements. A central processing unit (CPU) 204e of the baseband circuitry 204 can be configured to run elements of the protocol stack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP and/or RRC layers. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry can include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 204f. The audio DSP(s) 204f can be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and can include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry can be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 204 and the application circuitry 202 can be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

[0027] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 204 can provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 204 can support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 204 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol can be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry. In some embodiments, the device can be configured to operate in accordance with communication standards or other protocols or standards, including Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 wireless technology (WiMax), IEEE 802.11 wireless technology (WiFi) including IEEE 802.11 ad, which operates in the 60 GHz millimeter wave spectrum, various other wireless technologies such as global system for mobile communications (GSM), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE radio access network (GERAN), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN), or other 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, etc. technologies either already developed or to be developed.

[0028] RF circuitry 206 can enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 206 can include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 206 can include a receive signal path which can include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 208 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 204. RF circuitry 206 can also include a transmit signal path which can include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 204 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 208 for transmission.

[0029] In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 206 can include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the RF circuitry 206 can include mixer circuitry 206a, amplifier circuitry 206b and filter circuitry 206c. The transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 206 can include filter circuitry 206c and mixer circuitry 206a. RF circuitry 206 can also include synthesizer circuitry 206d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path can be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 208 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 206d. The amplifier circuitry 206b can be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 206c can be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals can be provided to the baseband circuitry 204 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals can be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path can comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0030] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the transmit signal path can be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 206d to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 208. The baseband signals can be provided by the baseband circuitry 204 and can be filtered by filter circuitry 206c. The filter circuitry 206c can include a low-pass filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. [0031] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 206a of the transmit signal path can include two or more mixers and can be arranged for quadrature downconversion and/or upconversion respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 206a of the transmit signal path can include two or more mixers and can be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 206a can be arranged for direct downconversion and/or direct

upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry

206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 206a of the transmit signal path can be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

[0032] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals can be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals can be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RF circuitry 206 can include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry 204 can include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 206.

[0033] In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry can be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0034] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 206d can be a fractional -N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers can be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 206d can be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0035] The synthesizer circuitry 206d can be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 206a of the RF circuitry 206 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some

embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 206d can be a fractional N/N+l synthesizer. [0036] In some embodiments, frequency input can be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input can be provided by either the baseband circuitry 204 or the application circuitry 202 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) can be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the application circuitry 202.

[0037] Synthesizer circuitry 206d of the RF circuitry 206 can include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider can be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator can be a digital phase accumulator (DP A). In some embodiments, the DMD can be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+l (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL can include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements can be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0038] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 206d can be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency can be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency can be a LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 206 can include an IQ/polar converter.

[0039] FEM circuitry 208 can include a receive signal path which can include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 210, amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 206 for further processing. FEM circuitry 208 can also include a transmit signal path which can include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 206 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 210.

[0040] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 208 can include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry can include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry can include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 206). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 208 can include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 206), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 210.

[0041] In some embodiments, the UE 200 can include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, and/or input/output (I/O) interface as described in more detail below. In some embodiments, the UE 200 described herein can be part of a portable wireless communication device, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a smartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), or other device that can receive and/or transmit information wirelessly. In some embodiments, the UE 200 can include one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with the system and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interaction with the system. For example, the UE 200 can include one or more of a keyboard, a keypad, a touchpad, a display, a sensor, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power supply interface, one or more antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, a speaker, a microphone, and other I/O components. The display can be an LCD or LED screen including a touch screen. The sensor can include a gyro sensor, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, and a positioning unit. The positioning unit can communicate with components of a positioning network, e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) satellite.

[0042] The antennas 210 can comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MTMO) embodiments, the antennas 210 can be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that can result.

[0043] Although the UE 200 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements can be combined and can be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements can comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio- frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements can refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0044] Embodiments can be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware and software. Embodiments can also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium, which can be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. A computer-readable storage medium can include any non-transitory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a computer-readable storage medium can include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memory devices, and other storage devices and media. Some embodiments can include one or more processors and can be configured with instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium.

[0045] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments. The device can be a UE or eNB, for example, such as the UE 102 or e B 104 shown in FIG. 1 that can be configured to track the UE as described herein, or an Element Manager (EM) 532, a Network Manager (NM) 542, a VNF Manager (VNFM) 550 or other entities described with respect to FIG. 5. The physical layer circuitry 302 can perform various encoding and decoding functions that can include formation of baseband signals for transmission and decoding of received signals. The communication device 300 can also include medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry 304 for controlling access to the wireless medium. The communication device 300 can also include processing circuitry 306, such as one or more single-core or multi-core processors, and memory 308 arranged to perform the operations described herein. The physical layer circuitry 302, MAC circuitry 304 and processing circuitry 306 can handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks compatible with one or more radio technologies. The radio control functions can include signal modulation, encoding, decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. For example, similar to the device shown in FIG. 2, in some embodiments, communication can be enabled with one or more of a WMAN, a WLAN, and a WPAN. In some embodiments, the communication device 300 can be configured to operate in accordance with 3 GPP standards or other protocols or standards, including WiMax, WiFi, WiGig, GSM, EDGE, GERAN, UMTS, UTRAN, or other 3G, 3G, 4G, 5G, etc. technologies either already developed or to be developed. The communication device 300 can include transceiver circuitry 312 to enable communication with other external devices wirelessly and interfaces 314 to enable wired communication with other external devices. As another example, the transceiver circuitry 312 can perform various transmission and reception functions such as conversion of signals between a baseband range and a Radio Frequency (RF) range.

[0046] The antennas 301 can comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some MFMO embodiments, the antennas 301 can be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that can result.

[0047] Although the communication device 300 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements can be combined and can be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including DSPs, and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements can comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, FPGAs, ASICs, REICs and

combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements can refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements. Embodiments can be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware and software. Embodiments can also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium, which can be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein.

[0048] FIG. 4 illustrates another block diagram of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments. In alternative embodiments, the communication device 400 can operate as a standalone device or can be connected (e.g., networked) to other communication devices. In a networked deployment, the communication device 400 can operate in the capacity of a server communication device, a client communication device, or both in server-client network environments. In an example, the communication device 400 can act as a peer communication device in peer- to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. The

communication device 400 can be a UE, e B, PC, a tablet PC, a STB, a PDA, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any communication device capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that communication device. Further, while only a single communication device is illustrated, the term "communication device" shall also be taken to include any collection of communication devices that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), other computer cluster configurations.

[0049] Examples, as described herein, can include, or can operate on, logic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangible entities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations and can be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example, circuits can be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to external entities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. In an example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardware processors can be configured by firmware or software (e.g., instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a module that operates to perform specified operations. In an example, the software can reside on a communication device readable medium. In an example, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations.

[0050] Accordingly, the term "module" is understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specifically configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily) configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or to perform part or all of any operation described herein. Considering examples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of the modules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example, where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processor configured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor can be configured as respective different modules at different times. Software can accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, to constitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitute a different module at a different instance of time.

[0051] Communication device (e.g., computer system) 400 can include a hardware processor 402 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 404 and a static memory 406, some or all of which can communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., bus) 408. The communication device 400 can further include a display unit 410, an alphanumeric input device 412 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 414 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display unit 410, input device 412 and UI navigation device 414 can be a touch screen display. The communication device 400 can additionally include a storage device (e.g., drive unit) 416, a signal generation device 418 (e.g., a speaker), a network interface device 420, and one or more sensors 421, such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or other sensor. The communication device 400 can include an output controller 428, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.).

[0052] The storage device 416 can include a communication device readable medium 422 that stores one or more sets of data structures or instructions 424 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. The instructions 424 can also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 404, within static memory 406, or within the hardware processor 402 during execution thereof by the communication device 400. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 402, the main memory 404, the static memory 406, or the storage device 416 can constitute communication device readable media.

[0053] While the communication device readable medium 422 is illustrated as a single medium, the term "communication device readable medium" can include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store the one or more instructions 424.

[0054] The term "communication device readable medium" can include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the communication device 400 and that cause the communication device 400 to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non-limiting communication device readable medium examples can include solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of communication device readable media can include: non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read- Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; Random Access Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. In some examples, communication device readable media can include non- transitory communication device readable media. In some examples, communication device readable media can include communication device readable media that is not a transitory propagating signal.

[0055] The instructions 424 can further be transmitted or received over a communications network 426 using a transmission medium via the network interface device 420 utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols (e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks can include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellular networks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless data networks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family of standards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, among others. In an example, the network interface device 420 can include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communications network 426. In an example, the network interface device 420 can include a plurality of antennas to wirelessly communicate using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SFMO), MFMO, or multiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques. In some examples, the network interface device 420 can wirelessly communicate using Multiple User MFMO techniques. The term "transmission medium" shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the communication device 400, and includes digital or analog

communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software.

[0056] The network and components shown in FIGS. 1-4 can be implemented in hardware or software or a combination thereof. In particular, as discussed above, the network can be wholly or partially implemented using network virtualization. Network virtualization has started to be used in various types of networks, particularly in server deployments and data centers. Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) are software implementations of network functions such as the MME, HLR, SGW, PGW or PCRF. VNFs can be deployed on a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) infrastructure (NFVI), which can include both hardware and software components of the network environment. NFV can thus virtualize separate network node functions into connected blocks that create communication services and exhibit public land mobile network (PLMN)-system behavior. Unlike conventional network hardware layouts in which a server can run a single instance of an operating system on physical hardware resources (e.g., CPU, RAM), the network operator can deploy VNFs on the NFVI to provide enhanced flexibility for network resource utilization, among others. In some embodiments, as described in more detail below, actual resources can be dynamically allocated, updated, and deallocated based on the functionality desired. To this end, the hardware can support virtual machines (VMs) having multiple operating systems and individualized amounts and types of virtualized resources.

[0057] The NFVI can, as other equipment, have a life cycle that includes creation, modification and deletion. NFV life cycle management can enable operators to instantiate or terminate VNFs on the fly according to demand. This can accordingly provide a great deal of flexibility in modification of the network to scale network capacity. In legacy 3 GPP systems, an Integration Reference Point (IRP) can be used as a standard for an Operations Support Systems (OSS) client (referred to as an IRP

Manager) to refer and access IRP Agents in various instantiations, such as an Element Manager (EM) or Network Manager (NM). The IRP Manager can manage the networks via Configuration Management (CM) functions - Create, Delete, and Modify operations. The CM functions can enable the IRP Manager to create, delete, or modify an Information Object Class (IOC) representing various behaviors or functions of the network elements. However, there is no native command in the IRP to enable the NM to instantiate or terminate a VNF. Instead, legacy create, delete or modify functions can be used to respectively instantiate, terminate or update the VNF in order to support VNF lifecycle management functions. The legacy Network Resource Model (NRM) already defined in the 3 GPP standard can be reused to minimize the impact to legacy systems, and can also be used in the NFV work item.

[0058] FIG. 5 illustrates a NFV network management architecture in accordance with some embodiments. The 3GPP NFV network

management architecture 500 shown in FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of the manner in which NVF life cycle management can be supported by the 3 GPP management system. As illustrated, the NFV network management architecture 500 can include a number of elements (each of which can contain physical and/or virtualized components), including a Network Virtualization Function Infrastructure (NVFI) 510, Network elements (NEs) 590, Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) 520, a Domain Manager (DM) 530, an Element Manager (EM) 532, a Network Manager (NM) 542, and a NFV Management and Orchestration (NFV-MANO) 580, The NFV-MANO 580 can comprise a Virtualized Infrastructure Manager (VFM) 540, a VNF Manager (VNFM) 550, and a Network Function

Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO) 560. The NM 542 can be contained in an Operations Support System/Business Support System (OSS/BSS) 520, with the DM 530 and NM 542 forming the 3GPP management system 514.

[0059] The NFV network management architecture 500 can be

implemented by, for example, a data center comprising one or more servers in the cloud. The NFV network management architecture 500, in some embodiments, can include one or more physical devices and/or one or more applications hosted on a distributed computing platform, a cloud computing platform, a centralized hardware system, a server, a computing device, and/or an external network-to-network interface device, among others. In some cases, the virtualized resource performance measurement can include, for example, latency, jitter, bandwidth, packet loss, nodal connectivity, compute, network, and/or storage resources, accounting, fault and/or security measurements. The elements of the NFV network management architecture 500 can thus be contained in one or more of the devices shown in FIGS. 1-4 or other devices. In particular, the NEs 590 can comprise physical network functions (PNF) including both hardware such as processors, antennas, amplifiers, transmit and receive chains, as well as software. The VNFs 520 can be instantiated in one or more servers. Each of the VNFs 520, DM 530 and the NEs 590 can contain an EM 522, 532, 592.

[0060] The NFV Management and Orchestration (NFV-MANO) 580 can manage the NFVI 510. The NFV-MANO 580 can orchestrate the instantiation of network services, and the allocation of resources used by the VNFs 520. The NFV-MANO 580 can, along with the OSS/BSS 540, be used by external entities to deliver various NFV business benefits. The OSS/BSS 540 can include the collection of systems and management applications that a service provider (such as a telephone operator or telecommunications company) use to operate their business: management of customers, ordering, products and revenues - for example, payment or account transactions, as well as telecommunications network components and supporting processes including network component configuration, network service provisioning and fault handling. The NFV-MANO 580 can create or terminate a VNF 520, increase or decrease the VNF capacity, or update or upgrade software and/or configuration of a VNF. The NFV- MANO 580 can include a Virtualized Infrastructure Manager (VFM) 570, a VNF Manager (VNFM) 550 and a NFV Orchestrator (NFVO) 560. The NFV-MANO 580 can have access to various data repositories including network services, VNFs available, NFV instances and NFVI resources with which to determine resource allocation.

[0061] The VFM 540 can control and manage the NFVI resources via Nf- Vi reference points within the infrastructure sub-domain. The VFM 540 can further collect and forward performance measurements and events to the VNFM 550 via Vi-VNFM and to the NFVO 560 via Or-Vi reference points. The NFVO 560 can be responsible for managing new VNFs and other network services, including lifecycle management of different network services, which can include VNF instances, global resource management, validation and authorization of NFVI resource requests and policy management for various network services. The NFVO 560 can coordinate VNFs 520 as part of network services that jointly realize a more complex function, including joint instantiation and configuration, configuring required connections between different VNFs 520, and managing dynamic changes of the configuration. The NFVO 560 can provide this orchestration through an OS-Ma-NFVO reference point with the NM 542. The VNFM 550 can orchestrate NFVI resources via the VFM 540 and provide overall coordination and adaptation for configuration and event reporting between the VFM 520 and the EMs and NMs. The former can involve discovering available services, managing virtualized resource availability/allocation/release and providing virtualized resource fault/performance management. The latter can involve lifecycle management that can include instantiating a VNF, scaling and updating the VNF instances, and terminating the network service, releasing the NFVI resources for the service to the NFVI resource pool to be used by other services.

[0062] The VNFM 550 can be responsible for the lifecycle management of the VNFs 520 via the Ve-VNFM-VNF reference point and can interface to EMs 522, 532 through the Ve- VNFM— EM reference point. The VNFM 550 can be assigned the management of a single VNF 520, or the management of multiple VNFs 520 of the same type or of different types. Thus, although only one VNFM 550 is shown in FIG. 5, different VNFMs 550 can be associated with the different VNFs 520 for performance measurement and other responsibilities. The VNFM 550 can provide a number of VNF functionalities, including instantiation (and configuration if required by the VNF deployment template), software update/upgrade, modification, scaling out/in and up/down, collection of NFVI performance measurement results and faults/events information and correlation to VNF instance-related events/faults, healing, termination, lifecycle management change notification, integrity management, and event reporting.

[0063] The VIM 540 can be responsible for controlling and managing the FVI compute, storage and network resources, usually within one operator's Infrastructure Domain. The VIM 540 can be specialized in handling a certain type of NFVI resource (e.g. compute-only, storage-only, networking-only), or can be capable of managing multiple types of NFVI resources. The VFM 540 can, among others, orchestrate the

allocation/upgrade/release/reclamation of NFVI resources (including the optimization of such resources usage) and manage the association of the virtualized resources to the physical compute, storage, networking resources, and manage repository inventory-related information of NFVI hardware resources (compute, storage, networking) and software resources (e.g. hypervisors), and discovery of the capabilities and features (e.g. related to usage optimization) of such resources.

[0064] The NVTI 510 can itself contain various virtualized and non- virtualized resources. These can include a plurality of virtual machines (VMs) 512 that can provide computational abilities (CPU), one or more memories 514 that can provide storage at either block or file-system level and one or more networking elements 516 that can include networks, subnets, ports, addresses, links and forwarding rules to ensure intra- and inter- VNF connectivity.

[0065] Each VNF 520 can provide a network function that is decoupled from infrastructure resources (computational resources, networking resources, memory) used to provide the network function. Although not shown, the VNFs 520 can be chained with other VNFs 520 and/or other physical network function to realize a network service. The virtualized resources can provide the VNFs 520 with desired resources. Resource allocation in the NFVI 510 can simultaneously meet numerous

requirements and constraints, such as low latency or high bandwidth links to other communication endpoints.

[0066] The VNFs 520, like the NEs 590 can be managed by one or more EMs 532. The EM can provide functions for management of virtual or physical network elements, depending on the instantiation. The EM can manage individual network elements and network elements of a subnetwork, which can include relations between the network elements. For example, the EM 522 of a VNF 520 can be responsible for configuration for the network functions provided by a VNF 520, fault management for the network functions provided by the VNF 520, accounting for the usage of VNF functions, and collecting performance measurement results for the functions provided by the VNF 520.

[0067] The EMs 532 (whether in a VNF 520 or NE 590) can be managed by the NM 542 of the OSS/BSS 540 through Itf-N reference points. The NM 542 can provide functions with the responsibility for the management of a network, mainly as supported by the EM 532 but can also involve direct access to the network elements. The NM 542 can connect and disconnect VNF external interfaces to physical network function interfaces at the request of the NFVO 560.

[0068] As above, the various components of the system can be connected through different reference points. The references points between the NFV-MANO 580 and the functional blocks of the system can include an Os-Ma-NFVO between the NM 542 and NFVO 560, a Ve-VNFM-EM between the EM 522, 532 and the VNFM 550, a Ve-VNFM-VNF between a VNF 520 and the VNFM 550, a Nf-Vi between the NFVI 510 and the VFM 570, an Or- VNFM between the NFVO 560 and the VNFM 550, an Or-Vi between the NFVO 560 and the VFM 570, and a Vi-VNFM between the VFM 570 and the VNFM 550. An Or-Vi interface can implement the VNF software image management interface and interfaces for the management of virtualized resources, their catalogue, performance and failure on the Or-Vi reference point. An Or-Vnfm interface can implement a virtualized resource management interface on the Or-Vnfm reference point. A Ve-Vnfm interface can implement a virtualized resource performance/fault management on the Ve-Vnfm reference point.

[0069] FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of VNF instantiation subsequent to an on-boarding request from a network manager (NM) 620 in accordance with some embodiments. The operations shown in FIG. 6 can be performed by the various elements shown in FIGS. 1-5. The operations generally illustrate the manner in which the NM 620 can request the NFVO 630 on-board a VNF package. The NM 620 can then request the EM 610 instantiate on-boarded VNF packages through further communication with a VNFM 640.

[0070] At operation 1, the NM 620 requests on-boarding of a VNF package. The NM can request on-boarding by sending an onboard VNF package request message (e.g., an OnboardVnfPackageRequest) to the NFVO 630. The onboard VNF package request message can be provided over an interface at least somewhat similar to the Os-Ma-nfvo interface shown in FIG. 5. The message can include an information element (e.g., vnfPackagePath), which is the uniform resource location (URL) indicating where the VNF package can be obtained, to on-board the VNF package. The VNF package can include information elements, such as a VNF package ID vnfPackageld, a VNF descriptor vnfd, information about VNF package artifacts that are software images (e.g., softwarelmage), an operational state of the on-boarded instance of the VNF package (e.g., operational State, which can include whether the on-boarded instance of the VNF package is enabled or disabled), and the usage state of the on-boarded instance of the VNF package (e.g., usageState, which can include whether the on-boarded instance of the VNF package is in use or not in use). Other information can also be included, such as product names, provider names, software versions, error checking parameters such as checksums, other user data, and information regarding other artifacts (e.g., information regarding VNF package artifacts that are not software images).

[0071] In operation 2, the NFVO 630 can provide a notification of VNF package on-boarding in a notification message (e.g.,

VnfPackageOnBoardingNotification). The onboarding notification can be provided over an interface at least somewhat similar to the Os-Ma-nfvo interface as shown in FIG. 5. The onboarding notification message can include an identifier of the VNF package that has been onboarded (e.g., vnfPackageld or vnfdld). Other information can be included in the notification. For example, the notification can include information held by the NFVO 630 about the specific on-boarded VNF package.

[0072] After the VNF package has been successfully on-boarded, the VNF operational State should be in "enabled" state. The NM 620 can determine that creation of a new VNF is desired. The VNF to be created can be a MME, HLR, SGW, PGW, or PCRF, for example. In operation 3, the NM 620 can transmit a request to the EM 610 (of the DM) via an Itf-N reference point to create or instantiate a new VNF. The request can contain a descriptor retrieved from the VNF package obtained in operation 2. For example, the request can include a vnfDescriptorld to identify the VNF descriptor.

[0073] In operation 4, the EM 610, having received the request to instantiate the VNF, can provide, to VNFM 620, a request to create a VNF identifier, the request including a VNF descriptor identifier. The request can include a message (e.g., Create VnfRequest). The EM 610 can transmit this request to the VNFM 640 via a reference point such as the Ve-Vnfm- em interface shown in FIG. 5. The request can identify the VNF descriptor by including, for example, the vnfDescriptorld from operation 3 or other similar descriptor. A result of this operation can be the creation of a VNF instance identifier and an associated instance of an information element (e.g., Vnflnfo) identified by that identifier, in the NOT-INSTANTIATED state without instantiating the VNF or performing other lifecycle operations. The VNFM can create a VNF instance identifier to be used in subsequent lifecycle operations, including, for example instantiation operations.

[0074] Once the VNF instance has been created, the method continues to operation 5. At operation 5, the EM 610 can receive a response to the request, the response including an instance identifier (e.g., vnflnstanceld) to indicate creation of an instance of a VNF information element. The response can be provided in an acknowledgement (e.g.,

Create VnfResponse) and can be received via the Ve-Vnfm-em reference point.

[0075] At operation 6, the EM 610 can provide a request to instantiate the VNF subsequent to receiving the response of operation 5. The request to instantiate the VNF can include the instance identifier (e.g., vnflnstanceld) and can be provided to the VNFM 640. The request can include a message such as Instantiate VnfRequest. The request can include other input parameters such as an identifier of the VNF deployment flavor (DF) to be instantiated (e.g., flavourld), and an identifier of the instantiate level of the DF to be instantiated (e.g., instantiationLevelld). Other parameters can include information about an external virtual link to connect the VNF to (e.g., extVirtualLink), information about external virtual links that are managed by other entities other than the VNFM 640 (e.g.,

extManagedVirtualLink), the localization language of the VNF to be instantiated (e.g., localizationLanguage), and other parameters. The request to instantiate the VNF can be provided using a Ve-Vnfm-em reference point

[0076] In operation 7, the EM 610 can receive a response to the request to instantiate the VNF subsequent to providing the request of operation 6. The response can include a lifecycle operation occurrence identifier (e.g., lifecycleOperationOccurrenceld) of a VNF instance. The response of operation 7 can be received from the VNFM 640 and can include an Instantiate VnfResponse message or similar message. In operation 8, the VNFM 640 can send an indication of a change to the VNF lifecycle to the EM 610. This indication can include a VnfLifecycleChangeNotification message. The indication can include attributes including a status (e.g., status = "start") to indicate whether the notification reports about the start of a lifecycle operation or the result of a lifecycle operation. Other parameters can be included. For example, the

VnfLifecycleChangeNotification message can include an identifier of the VNF instance affected (vnflnstanceld), the lifecycle operation expressed as a text string, an identifier of the VNF lifecycle operation occurrence associated to the notification (e.g., lifecycleOperationOccurrenceld), or other parameters. In operation 9, the VNFO 640 can send a result of the VNF instantiation in a VnfLifecycleChangeNotification message, with a status field set accordingly (e.g., status = "result").

[0077] At operation 10, the EM 610 can notify the NM 620 of the result of VNF instantiation. This notification can include an identificator of the corresponding VNF instance (e.g., vnflnstanceld).

[0078] As mentioned earlier herein, embodiments can also provide operations for scaling procedures. VNF resources in terms of CPU core and memory can be hardcoded in image flavor settings, or VNF resources can be otherwise predetermined. Accordingly, V Fs can be provisioned for typical usage or maximum usage. When VNFs are provisioned for typical usage, service disruption can occur when loads exceed the provisioned capacity, and this can result in deteriorations in user experience. When VNFs are provisioned for maximum usage, however, resources can be wasted or underutilized during normal system load.

Embodiments therefore provide for scaling after VNFs have been provisioned, created, instantiated, etc. to expand or contract a VNF instance.

[0079] FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of VNF scaling in accordance with some embodiments. The operations shown in FIG. 7 can be performed by the various elements shown in FIGS. 1-5. Various entities can request scaling. In some examples, such as shown in FIG. 7, an NM 620 can provide scaling requests to trigger a scaling process. For example, in operation 1, an NM can send a request to an EM 610 for scaling. The request can include an identifier (e.g., vnflnstanceld) of the VNF instance to be scaled.

[0080] In operation 2, the EM 610 passes along this request to the VNFM 640 using, for example, a ScaleVnfRequest message. The request (e.g., a scale request, ScaleVnfRequest or ScaleVnfToLevelRequest) can include parameters such as an identifier (e.g., vnflnstanceld) of the VNF instance to which the scaling request is related. The request can include the type of the scale operation requested (e.g., scale out or scale in). The set of types support can vary in different embodiments. The request can include an identifier (e.g., aspectld) of the aspect of the VNF that is requested to be scaled. For example a VNF can be designed to provide static capacity such as database nodes and dynamic capacity such as query processing nodes. Such a VNF might be scaled with respect to two aspects, for example, the static capacity aspect could be scaled by adding database nodes, and the dynamic capacity could be scaled by adding query processing nodes. The request can also include the number of scaling steps to be executed as part of a scaling operation. The number of steps will be a positive integer, and can have a default value (e.g., 1). In some embodiments, a VNF provider can indicate or provide a predetermined indication of whether multiple steps at a time are supported.

[0081] In some embodiments in which the request is provided in a request to scale a VNF to a level (e.g., a ScaleVnfToLevelRequest message), the request can include an identifier (e.g., instantiationLevelld) of the target instantiation level of the current DF to which the VNF is requested to be scaled. Otherwise, for each scaling aspect of the current flavor, a parameter (e.g., scalelnfo) can be provided that includes the target scale level to which the VNF is to be scaled. In some embodiments, a VNF provider can indicate whether the VNF supports scaling to that level. The scalelnfo parameter, or the instantiationLevelld identifier can be provided, but both cannot be provided simultaneously. Other parameters (e.g., parameters specific to the VNF being scaled), can also be provided in operation 2. These parameters or other parameters of a VNF provider can provide an indication of whether multiple steps at a time are supported.

[0082] In operation 3, the VNFM 640 sends a response to operation 2. The response can include a message (e.g., a scale response or

ScaleVnfResponse), which can include the identifier of the VNF lifecycle operation occurrence (e.g., lifecycleOperationOccurrenceld). In operation 4, the VNFM 640 can send a notification carrying an information element (e.g., VnfLifecycleChangeNotification) that includes attributes (e.g., vnflnstanceld, status = "start") indicating the start of VNF scaling. In operation 5, the VNFM 640 can send further notifications (e.g., a

VnfLifecycleChangeNotification information element) to indicate the result of VNF scaling, when the VNF scaling operation is completed. In case of success, the VNF will have been scaled according to the request. In case of failure, appropriate error information can be provided in a result (e.g., the result provided in operation 5). In operation 6, the EM 610 can send a response to the NM 620. The response can include an attribute such as the identifier of the VNF instance (e.g., vnflnstanceld) and a status to indicate the result of the scaling.

[0083] FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of a VNF termination in accordance with some embodiments. The operations shown in FIG. 8 can be performed by the various elements shown in FIGS. 1-5. It is assumed that EM 610 has subscribed to receive the VNF lifecycle change notification from VNFM 640. The VNF instance identifier (e.g., vnflnstanceld) will be deleted after the VNF termination.

[0084] In operation 1, a NM 620 can send a request to the EM 610 to terminate a VNF. The NM 620 can request this termination subsequent to determining that the VNF instance is not needed, for example. The VNF to be deleted can be a MME, HLR, SGW, PGW, or PCRF, for example. The NM 620 can transmit the request to the EM 610 via an Itf-N reference point. The request can contain a new attribute that indicates the type of the instantiation to be deleted, an identifie of the instance (e.g., vnflnstanceld) or other information.

[0085] In operation 2, having received the request from the NM 620, the EM 810 can send a termination request (e.g., Terminate VnfRequest) to VNFM 640. The termination request can include instance identification (e.g., vnflnstanceld) to terminate the respective VNF instance. Terminating the VNF instance may not delete the instance associated with vnflnstanceld in some embodiments.

[0086] In operation 3, the VNFM 640 sends a response (e.g., a termination response, or Terminate VnfResponse) to the EM 610. The response can include an identifier of the VNF lifecycle operation occurrence (e.g., lifecy cl eOp erati onOccurrenceld) .

[0087] In operation 4, the VNFM 640 can send a notification (e.g., a Notify message) to the EM 610. The notification message can include a lifecycle change notification (e.g., VnfLifecycleChangeNotification). The lifecycle change notification can include attributes. Attributes can include an identification of the VNF instance (e.g., vnflnstanceld) a status (e.g., status = "start"), a string to indicate the operation being performed (e.g., operation = "termination"), and other attributes. Presence of these or other attributes can indicate the start of VNF termination. In operation 5, the VNFM 640 can send a notification (e.g., a Notify message) to the EM 610. The notification message can include a lifecycle change notification (e.g., VnfLifecycleChangeNotification). The lifecycle change notification can include attributes. Attributes can include an identification of the VNF instance (e.g., vnflnstanceld) a status (e.g., status = "result"), a string to indicate the operation being performed (e.g., operation = "termination"), and other attributes. Presence of these or other attributes can indicate a result of an attempt at VNF termination.

[0088] In case of success, the VNF instance has been terminated and resources used by the VNF have been released. In case of failure, appropriate error information is provided in the "result" Lifecycle Change Notification. In operation 6, the ME 610 sends a response to the NM 620. The response can include the instance identifier (e.g., vnflnstanceld) and a status to indicate the result of the VNF termination for the corresponding VNF instance.

[0089] In Example 1, a computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of an element manager (EM), the one or more processors to configure the EM to: provide, to a virtual network function (VNF) manager (VNFM), a request to create a VNF identifier, the request including a VNF descriptor identifier; receive a response to the request, the response including an instance identifier to indicate creation of an instance of a VNF information element; provide a request to instantiate the VNF subsequent to receiving the response, the request to instantiate the VNF including the instance identifier; and receive a response to the request to instantiate the VNF subsequent to providing the request, the response including a lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of a VNF instance.

[0090] In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1 can optionally include wherein the one or more processors further configure the EM to: provide the request to instantiate the VNF using a Ve-Vnfm-em reference point.

[0091] In Example 3, the subject matter of Example 1 can optionally include wherein the one or more processors further configure the EM to: provide a termination request to terminate the VNF instance subsequent to determining that the VNF instance is not needed, the termination request including the instance identifier; and receive, in response to the termination request, a termination response that includes the lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of the VNF instance, and an indication that VNF termination has started. [0092] In Example 4, the subject matter of Example 1 can optionally include wherein the one or more processors configure the EM to: provide a scale request to expand or contract the VNF instance, the scale request including the instance identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled; and receive, in response to the scale request, a scale response that includes the lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled, and an indication that VNF scaling has started.

[0093] In Example 5, the subject matter of Example 4 can optionally include wherein the scale request includes a level to which to scale the VNF instance.

[0094] In Example 6, the subject matter of Example 1 can optionally include wherein the request to instantiate the VNF further includes a flavor identifier (flavourld) to identify a deployment flavor of the VNF and an external virtual link (extVirtualLink) to which the VNF is to be connected to.

[0095] In Example 7, the subject matter of Example 1 can optionally include wherein the one or more processors configure the EM to: provide a result of VNF instantiation to a network manager (NM) subsequent to receiving the response to the request to instantiate the VNF.

[0096] Example 8 is an apparatus (for example a computer, communication device, or portion thereof, or an element of a virtualization network, or an element manager (EM)), the apparatus comprising: memory to store data; and processing circuitry to: provide, to a virtual network function (VNF) manager (VNFM), a request to create a VNF identifier, the request including a VNF descriptor identifier; receive a response to the request, the response including an instance identifier to indicate creation of an instance of a VNF information element; provide a request to instantiate the VNF subsequent to receiving the response, the request to instantiate the VNF including the instance identifier; and receive a response to the request to instantiate the VNF subsequent to providing the request, the response including a lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of the VNF.

[0097] In Example 9, the subject matter of Example 8 can optionally include wherein the processing circuitry provides the request to instantiate the VNF using a Ve-Vnfm-em reference point. [0098] In Example 10, the subject matter of Example 8 can optionally include wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: provide a termination request to terminate the VNF instance subsequent to determining that the VNF instance is not needed, the termination request including the instance identifier; and receive, in response to the termination request, a termination response that includes the lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of the VNF instance, and an indication that VNF termination has started.

[0099] In Example 11, the subject matter of Example 8 can optionally include wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: provide a scale request to expand or contract the VNF instance, the scale request including the instance identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled; and receive, in response to the scale request, a scale response that includes the lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled, and an indication that VNF scaling has started.

[00100] In Example 12, the subject matter of Example 11 can optionally include wherein the scale request includes a level to which to scale the VNF instance.

[00101] In Example 13, the subject matter of Example 8 can optionally include wherein the processing circuitry is configured to: receive the VNF descriptor identifier within a request from a network manager (NM).

[00102] In Example 14, the subject matter of Example 8 can optionally include wherein the request to instantiate the VNF further includes a flavor identifier (flavourld) to identify a deployment flavor of the VNF and an external virtual link (extVirtualLink) to which the VNF is to be connected to.

[00103] In Example 15, the subject matter of Example 8 can optionally include wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

provide a result of VNF instantiation to a network manager (NM) subsequent to receiving the response to the request to instantiate the VNF.

[00104] In Example 16, the subject matter of Example 8 can optionally include an interface configured to communicate with one or more physical components external to the apparatus. [00105] Example 17 is an apparatus (e.g., a network manager (NM)) comprising: processing circuitry arranged to: provide, to a Network

Function Virtualization orchestrator (NFVO), a request to onboard a virtual network function (VNF), the request to onboard including a

vnfPackagePath, which is a uniform resource location (URL) indicating where the VNF can be obtained; and receive a response to the request, the response including an identifier of a VNF instance that has been onboarded.

[00106] In Example 18, the subject matter of Example 17 can optionally include wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: provide the identifier of the VNF instance to an element manager (EM) within a request to instantiate the VNF; and receive a response to the request to instantiate the VNF, the response including a result of VNF instantiation.

[00107] In Example 19, the subject matter of Example 18 can optionally include wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to provide, through an Itf-n interface to the EM, a request to terminate the VNF, the request to terminate including the identifier of the VNF instance.

[00108] Example 20 is an apparatus for an element of a virtualization network or of a data center (e.g., an apparatus for a virtual network function (VNF) manager (VNFM)), the apparatus comprising: memory; and processing circuitry to: decode a request to create a VNF identifier, the request including a VNF descriptor identifier; provide a response to the request, the response including an instance identifier to indicate creation of an instance of a VNF information element; decode a request to instantiate the VNF subsequent to receiving the response, the request to instantiate the VNF including the instance identifier; and provide a response to the request to instantiate the VNF subsequent to providing the request, the response including a lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of a VNF instance.

[00109] In Example 21, the subject matter of Example 20 can optionally include wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: decode a termination request to terminate the VNF instance, the termination request including the instance identifier; and provide, in response to the termination request, a termination response that includes the lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of the VNF instance, and an indication that VNF termination has started.

[00110] In Example 22, the subject matter of Example 20 can optionally include wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: decode a scale request to expand or contract the VNF instance, the scale request including the identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled; and provide, in response to the scale request, a scale response that includes the lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled, and an indication that VNF scaling has started.

[00111] Although an embodiment has been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes can be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that form a part hereof show, by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specific embodiments in which the subject matter can be practiced. The

embodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein. Other embodiments can be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This Detailed Description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

[00112] Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter can be referred to herein, individually and/or collectively, merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single embodiment or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose can be substituted for the specific

embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.

[00113] In this document, the terms "a" or "an" are used, as is common in patent documents, to include one or more than one, independent of any other instances or usages of "at least one" or "one or more." In this document, the term "or" is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that "A or B" includes "A but not B," "B but not A," and "A and B," unless otherwise indicated. In this document, the terms "including" and "in which" are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms "comprising" and "wherein." Also, in the following claims, the terms "including" and "comprising" are open-ended, that is, a system, UE, article, composition, formulation, or process that includes elements in addition to those listed after such a term in a claim are still deemed to fall within the scope of that claim. Moreover, in the following claims, the terms "first," "second," and "third," etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.

[00114] The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with

37 C.F.R. § 1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of an element manager (EM), the one or more processors to configure the EM to:

provide, to a virtual network function (VNF) manager (VNFM), a request to create a VNF identifier, the request including a VNF descriptor identifier;

receive a response to the request, the response including an instance identifier to indicate creation of an instance of a VNF information element; provide a request to instantiate the VNF subsequent to receiving the response, the request to instantiate the VNF including the instance identifier; and

receive a response to the request to instantiate the VNF subsequent to providing the request, the response including a lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of a VNF instance.

2. The medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors further configure the EM to:

provide the request to instantiate the VNF using a Ve-Vnfm-em reference point.

3. The medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors further configure the EM to:

provide a termination request to terminate the VNF instance subsequent to determining that the VNF instance is not needed, the termination request including the instance identifier; and

receive, in response to the termination request, a termination response that includes the lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of the VNF instance, and an indication that VNF termination has started.

4. The medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors configure the EM to:

provide a scale request to expand or contract the VNF instance, the scale request including the instance identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled; and

receive, in response to the scale request, a scale response that includes the lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled, and an indication that VNF scaling has started.

5. The medium of claim 4, wherein the scale request includes a level to which to scale the VNF instance.

6. The medium of claim 1, wherein the request to instantiate the VNF further includes a flavor identifier (flavourld) to identify a deployment flavor of the VNF and an external virtual link (extVirtualLink) to which the VNF is to be connected to.

7. The medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors configure the EM to:

8. An apparatus for an element manager (EM), the apparatus comprising: memory to store data; and

processing circuitry to:

receive a response to the request, the response including an instance identifier to indicate creation of an instance of a VNF information element; provide a request to instantiate the VNF subsequent to receiving the response, the request to instantiate the VNF including the instance identifier; and receive a response to the request to instantiate the VNF subsequent to providing the request, the response including a lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of the VNF.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processing circuitry provides the request to instantiate the VNF using a Ve-Vnfm-em reference point.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the scale request includes a level to which to scale the VNF instance.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

receive the VNF descriptor identifier within a request from a network manager (NM).

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the request to instantiate the VNF further includes a flavor identifier (flavourld) to identify a deployment flavor of the VNF and an external virtual link (extVirtualLink) to which the VNF is to be connected to.

15. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

16. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

an interface configured to communicate with one or more physical components external to the apparatus.

An apparatus of network manager (NM), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry arranged to:

provide, to a Network Function Virtualization orchestrator (NFVO), a request to onboard a virtual network function (VNF), the request to onboard including a vnfPackagePath, which is a uniform resource location (URL) indicating where the VNF can be obtained; and

receive a response to the request, the response including an identifier of a VNF instance that has been onboarded.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

provide the identifier of the VNF instance to an element manager (EM) within a request to instantiate the VNF; and

receive a response to the request to instantiate the VNF, the response including a result of VNF instantiation.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to provide, through an Itf-n interface to the EM, a request to terminate the VNF, the request to terminate including the identifier of the VNF instance.

20. An apparatus for a virtual network function (VNF) manager (VNFM), the apparatus comprising:

memory; and

processing circuitry to:

decode a request to create a VNF identifier, the request including a VNF descriptor identifier;

provide a response to the request, the response including an instance identifier to indicate creation of an instance of a VNF information element; decode a request to instantiate the VNF subsequent to receiving the response, the request to instantiate the VNF including the instance identifier; and

provide a response to the request to instantiate the VNF subsequent to providing the request, the response including a lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of a VNF instance.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

decode a termination request to terminate the VNF instance, the termination request including the instance identifier; and

provide, in response to the termination request, a termination response that includes the lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of the VNF instance, and an indication that VNF termination has started.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

decode a scale request to expand or contract the VNF instance, the scale request including the identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled; and provide, in response to the scale request, a scale response that includes the lifecycle operation occurrence identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled, and an indication that VNF scaling has started.