KR102033948B1 - Centralized virtual customer premises equipment system - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a centralized virtual customer premises equipment (vCPE) system. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the centralized vCPE system includes: a web portal server providing a web portal for trading vCPE by receiving registration information about virtual network functions (VNF) for building the vCPE from an operator, and receiving first purchase information corresponding to first vCPE for a client from the client; a client terminal including exclusive connection equipment for accessing the first vCPE; and a network function virtualization (NFV) server building the first vCPE by forming a first service function chain (SFC) based on first VNF corresponding to the first purchase information, which are at least some of the VNF corresponding to the registration information, and establishing connection between the exclusive connection equipment and the first SFC.

Description

CENTRALIZED VIRTUAL CUSTOMER PREMISES EQUIPMENT SYSTEM}

The examples below relate to a central vCPE system.

Network Functional Virtualization (NFV) is a new network architecture framework that can provide the infrastructure flexibility and agility needed to successfully compete in today's evolving communications environment. For example, to cope with the increased use of networks by Internet-of-Things (IoT) and to meet the need for new network services and performance guarantees, NFV can reduce costs and accelerate service deployment. Network operators or telecommunications service providers Communication Service Providers (CSPs) use virtualization and cloud technology to separate network functions from hardware and enable firewalls, routers, network address translation (NAT), dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), and domain (DNS). You can transform traditional networking by abstracting network services such as Name System (VNF) into software called Virtual Network Function (VNF). As a result, NFV offers the opportunity to significantly increase infrastructure flexibility, simplify resource management processes, and reduce capital and operating costs.

According to one embodiment, the central vCPE system receives a registration information about the Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) for building a virtual customer premises equipment (vCPE) from the operator to provide a web portal for trading the vCPE, A web portal server receiving first purchase information corresponding to a first vCPE for the customer from a customer; A customer terminal including dedicated access equipment for accessing the first vCPE; And build a first vCPE by constructing a first service function chain (SFC) based on first VNFs corresponding to the first purchase information, which is at least a part of the VNFs corresponding to the registration information, to establish the first vCPE and the dedicated access equipment. And a network function virtualization server (NFV server) for establishing a connection between the first SFC.

The NFV server may include an SFC classifier that forms network traffic between the dedicated access equipment, the first SFC, and the Internet network.

The first purchase information may include a network address of the dedicated access equipment, and the SFC classifier may map network traffic related to the dedicated access equipment to the first SFC using the network address of the dedicated access equipment. have.

The first purchase information is at least to be mounted on the first vCPE during domain name system (DNS), dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), firewall, router, wide area network optimization (WD), and deep packet inspection (DPI). Service information comprising one, a monitoring policy on the first VNFs, a placement policy on the placement of the first VNFs, and a scaling policy on the scaling of the first VNFs. Policy information including at least one of the above, and network environment information indicating a virtual environment in the NFV server including a virtual processing device, a virtual memory and a virtual storage device for driving the first vCPE.

The dedicated access equipment may be a Raspberry Pi connecting the network card of the customer terminal and the router of the NFV server.

The first vCPE is at least one of a domain name system (DNS), a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), a firewall, a router, a wide area network optimization (WD), and a deep packet inspection (DPI) for the customer terminal on the NFV server. It can play a role.

According to an embodiment, a method of operating a network function virtualization server (NFV server) in a centralized virtual customer premises equipment system (vCPE) may correspond to registration information regarding virtual network functions (VNFs) for building vCPE. Constructing a first Service Function Chain (SFC) based on first VNFs that are at least part of the VNFs corresponding to the first purchase information of the customer; Establishing a first vCPE for the customer based on the first SFC; And establishing a connection between the dedicated connection equipment of the customer terminal and the first SFC for accessing the first vCPE.

The method of operating the NFV server may further include forming network traffic between the dedicated access equipment, the first SFC, and the internet network by using an SFC classifier.

The first purchase information may include a network address of the dedicated access device, and the forming of the network traffic may include network traffic related to the dedicated access device by using the network address of the dedicated access device. It may include the step of mapping to.

1 illustrates a centralized vCPE system according to one embodiment.
2 is a block diagram illustrating a web portal server according to an exemplary embodiment.
3 illustrates a customer terminal and an NFV server according to an embodiment.
4 illustrates an NFV architecture according to one embodiment.
5 illustrates a traffic forwarding process according to an embodiment.

Specific structural or functional descriptions of the embodiments according to the inventive concept disclosed herein are merely illustrated for the purpose of describing the embodiments according to the inventive concept, and the embodiments according to the inventive concept. These may be embodied in various forms and are not limited to the embodiments described herein.

Embodiments according to the inventive concept may be variously modified and have various forms, so embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail herein. However, this is not intended to limit the embodiments in accordance with the concept of the present invention to specific embodiments, and includes modifications, equivalents, or substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Terms such as first or second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another component, for example, without departing from the scope of the rights according to the inventive concept, the first component may be called a second component, Similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component.

When a component is said to be “connected” or “connected” to another component, it may be directly connected to or connected to that other component, but it may be understood that other components may be present in the middle. Should be. On the other hand, when a component is said to be "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there is no other component in between. Expressions that describe the relationship between components, such as "between" and "immediately between," or "directly neighboring to," should be interpreted as well.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this specification, the terms “comprise” or “have” are intended to designate that the stated feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof exists, but includes one or more other features or numbers, It is to be understood that it does not exclude in advance the possibility of the presence or addition of steps, actions, components, parts or combinations thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Terms such as those defined in the commonly used dictionaries should be construed as having meanings consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art, and are not construed in ideal or excessively formal meanings unless expressly defined herein. Do not.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the scope of the patent application is not limited or limited by these embodiments. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.

1 illustrates a centralized vCPE system according to one embodiment.

The centralized virtual customer premises equipment system 100 includes a web portal server 110, customer terminals 120 and 130, and an NFV server 140.

NFV uses virtualization technology to separate proprietary hardware and network functions so that they can run as software on commercial hardware platforms. Telecom service providers can leverage NFV to deliver vCPE solutions, reducing the number and cost of physical hardware equipment customers need for hosting connectivity and other value-added features. Embodiments may provide a centralized vCPE system 100 in a vCPE platform. For ease of explanation below, the central vCPE system 100 is referred to simply as the vCPE system 100.

The vCPE system 100 may provide a virtual network service through a virtual network function (VNF) to users of small businesses and homes using NFV technology. The virtual network service may include a domain name system (DNS), a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), a firewall, a router, wide area network optimization (WAN), deep packet inspection (DPI), and the like.

The web portal server 110 provides a web portal service. Customers 125 and 135 can configure and manage policies, services and network infrastructure through web portals. Customers 125 and 135 may be enterprise administrators or end users. Customers 125 and 135 may be provided with their own virtual infrastructure, i.e., virtual network services.

The web portal server 110 may receive registration information regarding the VNFs for building the vCPE from the operator 145 and provide a web portal for trading the vCPE. The registration information may include a virtual network service corresponding to the VNFs, a specification of each virtual network service, a cost of installing and maintaining each virtual network service, and the like. The operator 145 may register a virtual network service that can be provided through the NFV server 140 in a web portal, and provide the virtual network service to the customers 125 and 135 when there is a purchase of the customers 125 and 135. .

The customers 125 and 135 may access the web portal to purchase virtual network services to be applied to the customer terminals 120 and 130. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the virtual network service will be described in terms of the customer 125 and the customer terminal 120. The following descriptions of the customer 125 and the customer terminal 120 may also be applied to the customer 135 and the customer terminal 130.

The customer 125 may access a web portal and purchase a virtual network service to be applied to the customer terminal 120. The customer 125 may enter purchase information into the web portal. The web portal server 110 may receive the purchase information from the customer 125 and process the payment of the customer 125 based on the purchase information. Hereinafter, the purchase information input by the customer 125 is referred to as first purchase information, and the virtual network service applied to the customer terminal 120 is referred to as a first vCPE. When payment corresponding to the first purchase information is completed, the NFV server 140 may install the first vCPE in the NFV server 140.

The customer terminal 120 may access the NFV server 140 through the dedicated access equipment 121. Similarly, the customer terminal 130 may access the NFV server 140 through the dedicated access equipment 131. The access to the NFV server 140 by the customer terminal 120 may mean that the first vCPE installed in the NFV server 140 is applied to the customer terminal 130. For example, when the first vCPE includes a firewall, the firewall may be applied to the customer terminal 130 as a virtual network service. The first vCPE is a domain name system (DNS), a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), a firewall, a router, and a wide area network optimization (WAN) for the customer terminal 120 on the NFV server 140 according to the first purchase information. And deep packet inspection (DPI).

Dedicated connection equipment 131 may correspond to a lightweight CPE. For example, the dedicated access equipment 131 may be a Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi is a low-cost installation and maintenance solution and can be used as a lightweight CPE with network access. The dedicated access device 131 may connect the network card of the customer terminal 120 and the router of the NFV server 140. That is, the customer terminal 120 may be connected to the NFV server 140 through the dedicated access equipment 131 and the router of the NFV server 140.

When payment corresponding to the first purchase information is completed, the NFV server 140 may install the first vCPE in the NFV server 140. For example, the NFV server 140 constructs a first service function chain (SFC) based on first VNFs corresponding to first purchase information that is at least a part of VNFs corresponding to registration information to construct a first vCPE. can do. When the first vCPE is established, the NFV server 140 may establish a connection between the dedicated access equipment 121 and the first SFC. The NFV server 140 may include an SFC classifier that forms network traffic between the dedicated access equipment 121, the first SFC, and the Internet network. That is, the SFC classifier may correspond to the entry point of the SFC. The role of the SFC classifier is to map traffic coming from the customer terminal 120 or the Internet to the SFC.

According to one embodiment, the first purchase information includes a network address of the dedicated access equipment 121, and the SFC classifier uses the network address of the dedicated access equipment 121 to network traffic about the dedicated access equipment 121. It may be mapped to the first SFC. The network traffic related to the dedicated access equipment 121 may include network traffic received from the dedicated access equipment 121 and network traffic transmitted to the dedicated access equipment 121.

According to one embodiment, the first purchase information is transmitted to the first vCPE during domain name system (DNS), dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), firewall, router, wide area network optimization (WAN), and deep packet inspection (DPI). Service information including at least one to be loaded, a monitoring policy for the first VNFs, a placement policy for the placement of the first VNFs, and a scaling policy for the scaling of the first VNFs Policy information including at least one of the following information; and network environment information indicating a virtual environment in the NFV server 140 including a virtual processing device, a virtual memory, and a virtual storage device for driving the first vCPE. have.

The customer 125 may apply at least one virtual network to the first vCPE through the service information. In addition, the customer 125 may determine how to deploy the first VNFs through the placement policy, that is, the order of application of the first VNFs, and determine a policy such as scale up / down of the first VNFs through the scaling policy. Can be. In addition, the customer 125 may set, in the network environment information, which network environment the first vCPE is to be driven, that is, the performance of the virtual processing device, the size of the virtual memory, the virtual storage device, and the like.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a web portal server according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2, the web portal server 200 includes a registration information managing unit 210, a purchase information managing unit 220, and a UI providing unit 230.

The registration information manager 210 receives and manages registration information from an operator of the NFV server. The registration information may include a virtual network service corresponding to the VNFs, a specification of each virtual network service, a cost of installing and maintaining each virtual network service, and the like. The registration information manager 210 may classify registration information of each operator and manage the registration information in a database.

The purchase information manager 220 may receive the purchase information from the customer, process the payment regarding the virtual network service corresponding to the purchase information, and provide the processing result to the operator. The purchase information may include the network address of the dedicated access device. In addition, the purchase information may include service information, policy information, and network environment information. The above-described content may be applied to service information, policy information, and network environment information.

The UI providing unit 230 may provide a UI for an operator and a customer through a web portal. Operators and customers can use the service through different UIs. That is, different UIs may be provided to the operator and the customer. For example, an operator can be provided with a UI to enter and manage registration information, view customer purchase information, and view customer payment status, and provide a list of virtual network services available for purchase, A UI for purchasing a virtual network service, proceeding with payment, and checking the status of the purchased virtual network service may be provided. Operators and customers can access web portals through the identification information assigned to them. The UI providing unit 230 may identify whether the connected object is an operation site or a customer based on the identification information, and may provide a UI corresponding to each object.

3 is a diagram illustrating a customer terminal and an NFV server according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3, the customer terminal 310 includes a processor 311, a communication unit 312, and a memory 313, and the NFV server 320 includes a VNF 322, an NFV Infrastructure 323, and an NFVO. (NFV Orchestrator, 324), VNF (VNF Manager, 325) and VIM (Virtualized Infrastructure Manager, 326).

The communication unit 312 may be, for example, a network card such as a LAN card. The customer terminal 310 may access a network such as the Internet through the communication unit 312. In general, in order for the customer terminal 310 to use vCPE, a separate expensive network equipment is required. According to the embodiment, by connecting to the NFV server 320 through the dedicated connection equipment 314 corresponding to the lightweight CPE, it is possible to use the vCPE at a low cost.

Although the dedicated access equipment 314 is displayed outside the customer terminal 310 in FIG. 3, the customer terminal 310 may be represented as including the dedicated access equipment 314. The dedicated access equipment 314 connects the customer terminal 310 and the NFV server 320. The dedicated connection device 314 may connect the communication unit 312 of the customer terminal 310 and the router 321 of the NFV server 320. When the customer of the customer terminal 310 purchases the vCPE, the purchase information of the customer may include the network address of the dedicated access equipment 314, and the operator installs the vCPE for the customer terminal 310 in the NFV server 320. In addition, the vCPE of the NFV server 320 may be connected to the dedicated access device 314 using the network address of the dedicated access device 314. Connecting the vCPE to the dedicated access equipment 314 may mean mapping traffic related to the dedicated access equipment 314, that is, traffic relating to the customer terminal 310 to the vCPE.

Each configuration of the NFV server 320 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4.

4 is a diagram illustrating an NFV architecture according to an embodiment.

The Network Functional Virtualization (NFV) architecture includes 1) a software implementation version of the network function, Virtual Network Function (VNF), 2) an NFV Infrastructure (NFVI) that includes the hardware and software components on which the VNF is deployed, and ), Including VNF Manager (VNFM) and Virtualized Infrastructure Manager (VIM), and NFV Management and Orchestration (MANO) to organize and manage NFVI resources and the life cycle of VNF.

The NFV architecture can be largely divided into functional blocks and reference points. First, the functional blocks include VNF, EM, NFVI, VIM, NFVO, VNFM, Service, VNF and Infrastructure Description, and OSS / BSS, and the reference points are VI-ha, Vn-Nf, Or-Vnfm, Vi-Vnfm, Or -Vi, Nf-Vi, Os-Ma and Ve-Vnfm.

Element Management (EM) is an entity that has a VNF related configuration and monitoring function and has a log of it. EM detects, detects, and secures VNFs, measures performance, and configures them. OSS / BSS means the service operation and business support system of network operators.

NFVI refers to all physical and logical elements for the management and execution of the VNF from the time the VNF is deployed. In other words, it refers to an entity that provides resources through the virtualization stage with physical elements. From the VNF point of view, virtualized resources are eventually used, so there is no need to separate physical and logical elements.

There are two main components of NFVI. The first is hardware resources. In other words, it refers to the actual physical resources that the VNF will use through the virtualization layer. The second is the virtualization layer. It is responsible for abstracting physical resources through the virtualization layer so that the resources can be used flexibly.

VIM refers to the part that manages and controls the physical resources used by the VNF such as computing, storage, and network. It is responsible for deploying and managing virtualized resources based on physical resources.VIM also provides management functions through visualization of NFVI and NFVI error monitoring and management by collecting defect information and resource status from NFVI.

VNFM performs management and control functions for VNF lifecycle management and interoperability between VNFs. NFVO has an orchestration function for resources and services. NFVO manages the collection of VNF-related resource usage information on the resource side and manages the lifecycle and automation on the service side.

The NFV reference point is the interface between the components described above and consists of eight interfaces. Vi-Ha is an interface used between the virtualization layer and hardware resources to provide resources for the VNF, and to collect status information about hardware. Vn-Nf is an interface used between VNF and NFVI, which is used by NFVI to provide resources to VNF. Or-Vnfm is the interface between NFVO and VNF Manager. It is used when VNFM makes a resource related request (user authentication, validity, reservation, allocation) to NFVO or when NFVO sends configuration information to VNFM. It is also used to collect VNF information for network service lifecycle management.

Vi-Vnfm is an interface used between VIM and VNFM. It is used when VNFM requests resource allocation from VIM or sets up virtualized hardware resources and exchanges status information. OR-Vi is an interface used when NFVO makes a reservation for a resource or requests allocation of a resource to VIM. This interface is also used to exchange virtualized hardware resource configuration and status information. Nf-Vi is an interface defined in the connection between VIM and NFVI. It is used when responding to resource allocation request, transferring resource status information, or setting hardware resource.

Ve-Vnfm is an interface defined between VNF / EM and VNFM. It is used when a request related to VNF lifecycle management is required, setting and event related information is communicated, or status information is exchanged for network service lifecycle management. do. Os-Ma is an interface defined between OSS / BSS and NFVO. It is a request related to network service lifecycle management or a request related to VNF lifecycle management, status information related to NFV, management policy delivery, data analysis exchange, and NFV related. Used to transfer billing and usage records, exchange information about NFVI functions, and inventory.

5 is a diagram illustrating a traffic forwarding process according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 5, a VNF 540 is shown according to one embodiment. The VNF 540 includes a firewall, a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), a domain name system (DNS), and a quality of service (QoS).

It is assumed that a firewall and DNS are applied to the customer terminal 510 in the VNF 540, and DHCP, DNS, and QoS are applied to the customer terminal 520. The SFC (Service Function Chain) 531 for the customer terminal 510 may be configured with a firewall and DNS, and the SFC 532 for the customer terminal 520 may be configured with DHCP, DNS, and QoS. The SFC classifier 530 may form network traffic between dedicated access equipment of the customer terminals 510 and 520, the SFCs 531 and 532, and the internet network.

The SFC classifier 530 maps network traffic related to the first dedicated access equipment to the SFC 531 by using the network address of the first dedicated access equipment for the customer terminal 510, and makes a first request for the customer terminal 520. The network address of the second dedicated access device may be mapped to the SFC 532 using the network address of the second dedicated access device. The network traffic related to the dedicated access equipment may include network traffic received from the dedicated access equipment and network traffic transmitted to the dedicated access equipment.

The apparatus described above may be implemented as a hardware component, a software component, and / or a combination of hardware components and software components. For example, the devices and components described in the embodiments are, for example, processors, controllers, Arithmetic Logic Units (ALUs), digital signal processors, microcomputers, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Can be implemented using one or more general purpose or special purpose computers, such as a programmable logic unit (PLU), a microprocessor, or any other device capable of executing and responding to instructions. The processing device may execute an operating system (OS) and one or more software applications running on the operating system. The processing device may also access, store, manipulate, process, and generate data in response to the execution of the software. For the convenience of understanding, a processing device may be described as one being used, but a person skilled in the art will appreciate that the processing device includes a plurality of processing elements and / or a plurality of types of processing elements. It can be seen that it may include. For example, the processing device may include a plurality of processors or one processor and one controller. In addition, other processing configurations are possible, such as parallel processors.

The software may include a computer program, code, instructions, or a combination of one or more of the above, and configure the processing device to operate as desired, or process independently or collectively. You can command the device. Software and / or data may be any type of machine, component, physical device, virtual equipment, computer storage medium or device in order to be interpreted by or to provide instructions or data to the processing device. Or may be permanently or temporarily embodied in a signal wave to be transmitted. The software may be distributed over networked computer systems so that they are stored or executed in a distributed manner. Software and data may be stored on one or more computer readable recording media.

Method according to the embodiment is implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed by various computer means may be recorded on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like, alone or in combination. The program instructions recorded on the media may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the embodiments, or they may be of the kind well-known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tape, optical media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, and magnetic disks such as floppy disks. Magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include machine code, such as produced by a compiler, as well as high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware device described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the embodiments, and vice versa.

Although the embodiments have been described by the limited embodiments and the drawings as described above, various modifications and variations are possible to those skilled in the art from the above description. For example, the described techniques may be performed in a different order than the described method, and / or components of the described systems, structures, devices, circuits, etc. may be combined or combined in a different manner than the described method, or other components. Or even if replaced or replaced by equivalents, an appropriate result can be achieved.

Therefore, other implementations, other embodiments, and equivalents to the claims are within the scope of the claims that follow.

Claims (10)

Receive registration information about Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) for building virtual customer premises equipment (vCPE) from an operator, provide a web portal for trading the vCPE, and respond from the customer to the first vCPE for the customer A web portal server for receiving first purchase information;
A customer terminal including a raspberry pi as a dedicated access device for accessing the first vCPE; And
Build a first vCPE by constructing a first Service Function Chain (SFC) based on first VNFs corresponding to the first purchase information that is at least a part of the VNFs corresponding to the registration information, and establish the first vCPE, A network function virtualization server (NFV server) that establishes a connection between the first SFCs and forms network traffic between the dedicated access equipment, the first SFC, and the internet network by using an SFC classifier.
Including,
The first purchase information is
Service information including at least one to be mounted in the first vCPE during domain name system (DNS), dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), firewall, router, wide area network optimization (DW), and deep packet inspection (DPI) ,
Policy information including a monitoring policy for the first VNFs, a placement policy for the placement of the first VNFs, and a scaling policy for scaling of the first VNFs;
Network environment information indicating a virtual environment in the NFV server including a virtual processing device, a virtual memory, and a virtual storage device for driving the first vCPE; and
Network address of the Raspberry Pi
Including,
The Raspberry Pi connects the network card of the customer terminal and the router of the NFV server,
The SFC classifier of the NFV server maps network traffic about the Raspberry Pi to the first SFC using the network address of the Raspberry Pi,
Central vCPE system. delete delete delete delete The method of claim 1,
The first vCPE is
At least one of a domain name system (DNS), a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), a firewall, a router, a wide area network optimization (WD), and a deep packet inspection (DPI) is performed for the customer terminal on the NFV server. doing,
Central vCPE system. delete delete delete delete

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