KR102061963B1 - System and Method for processing network packet based on NFV for ensuring high availability - Google Patents

Abstract

An NFV based network packet processing system and method for ensuring high availability are disclosed. The disclosed system comprises at least one server, wherein a plurality of virtual network functions (VNFs) are formed in the at least one server, each of the plurality of VNFs comprising at least one VNF instance; And a control device configured to sequentially select M (integer 2 or more) VNFs among the plurality of VNFs, and select one VNF instance from each of the selected M VNFs to configure SFC (Service Function Chaining). The control device calculates an availability cost ratio value associated with at least one VNF instance in VNF i + 1 for a VNF instance selected from VNF i ( i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to M), and wherein the availability cost ratio value The VNF instance in the VNF i + 1 corresponding to the maximum value is selected.

Description

System and Method for processing network packet based on NFV for ensuring high availability

Embodiments of the present invention relate to an NFV based network packet processing system and method that ensures high availability.

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technology is changing the way operators install and maintain services. With network function virtualization, operators can implement network functions through software, and network functions through software through Virtual Network Functions (VNF).

However, using the VNF service method causes vulnerabilities such as software and hardware errors. That is, when an error occurs in the VNF, the entire process of SFC (Service Function Chaining) may be stopped.

Therefore, NFV-based networks require higher availability than existing networks, and simply embedding the VNF is not sufficient to achieve high availability and requires further improvement / protection schemes.

In order to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, the present invention proposes an NFV-based network packet processing system and method for ensuring high availability.

Other objects of the present invention may be derived by those skilled in the art through the following examples.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention to achieve the above object, at least one server-a plurality of virtual network functions (VNF) to perform a specific service function is formed in the at least one server, the plurality of VNF Each includes at least one VNF instance; And a control device configured to sequentially select M (integer 2 or more) VNFs among the plurality of VNFs, and select one VNF instance from each of the selected M VNFs to configure SFC (Service Function Chaining). The control device calculates an availability cost ratio value associated with at least one VNF instance in VNF i + 1 for a VNF instance selected from VNF i ( i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M), wherein the availability cost ratio value A network packet processing system is provided which selects a VNF instance in the VNF i + 1 corresponding to a maximum value among the values.

The availability ratio cost value can be proportional to the availability of VNF instance, VNF in the i + 1, and inversely proportional to the number of hops distance between VNF instance, VNF i selected in the above instance, VNF VNF in the i + 1.

When the configured SFC is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold availability value, the control device may measure availability importance of each of the M VNFs, and add a VNF instance to a VNF having a maximum availability importance among the measured availability importance levels. .

The availability importance of the VNF may be calculated using the number of SFCs having the VNF as a component, the availability of the VNF, and the resource cost required to add a VNF instance to the VNF.

The availability importance of the VNF i may be expressed as the following equation.

는 상기 VNF i의 가용성 중요도,

는 상기 VNF i 내에 VNF 인스턴스를 추가하기 위해 소요되는 자원 비용,

는 상기 VNF i가 포함된 SFC,

는 상기 네트워크 패킷 처리 시스템에 구성된 SFC의 집합,

는 상기 VNF i의 가용성,

는 상기 VNF i가 포함된 SFC의 가용성을 각각 의미함. here,

Is the availability importance of the VNF i ,

Resource cost for adding a VNF instance within the VNF i ,

Is an SFC including the VNF i ,

Is a set of SFCs configured in the network packet processing system,

Is the availability of the VNF i ,

Is the availability of each SFC containing the VNF i .

Further, according to another embodiment of the present invention, at least one server, wherein a plurality of VNFs for performing a specific service function are formed in the at least one server, each of the plurality of VNFs includes at least one VNF instance ; And a controller configured to sequentially select M (integer 2 or more) VNFs among the plurality of VNFs, and to configure an SFC by selecting one VNF instance from each of the selected M VNFs. When the configured SFC is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold availability value, the availability importance of each of the M VNFs is measured, and the network packet processing comprises adding a VNF instance to the VNF having the maximum availability importance among the measured availability importance levels. A system is provided.

In addition, according to another embodiment of the present invention, in the network packet processing method performed in a network packet processing system in which a plurality of VNFs are formed, sequentially selecting M (integer or more) VNFs among the plurality of VNFs ; And configuring an SFC by selecting one VNF instance from each of the selected M VNFs, wherein the configuring step includes: VNF for the VNF instance selected from VNF i ( i is an integer of 1 or more and less than or equal to M). calculating at least one soluble cost ratio values that each are associated with VNF instances in the i + 1, and the network packet processing, characterized in that for selecting the VNF instance in the VNF i + 1 corresponding to the maximum of the available cost ratio values A method is provided.

NFV-based network packet processing system and method according to the present invention has the advantage of ensuring high availability.

In addition, the effect of this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned effect, It should be understood that it includes all the effects which can be deduced from the structure of the invention described in the detailed description of this invention, or a claim.

1 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a network packet processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram illustrating a concept of a VNF in a network packet processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a diagram illustrating an algorithm for selecting a VNF instance to configure an SFC according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram illustrating a further concept of a VNF instance in a network packet processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a view used for comparing the configuration of the present invention of the prior art.
6 is a diagram illustrating an algorithm for adding a VNF instance according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a flowchart illustrating a network packet processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" include plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this specification, terms such as “consisting of” or “comprising” should not be construed as necessarily including all of the various components or steps described in the specification, and some of the components or some steps It should be construed that it may not be included or may further include additional components or steps. In addition, the terms "... unit", "module", etc. described in the specification mean a unit for processing at least one function or operation, which may be implemented in hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software. .

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a network packet processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the network packet processing system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a system operating based on Network Function Virtualization (NFV), and includes at least one server 110 and a control device 120. do. Hereinafter, the function of each component will be described in detail.

Each of the at least one server 110 includes a processor and a memory, and at least one virtual network function (VNF) that performs a specific service function is formed, and each VNF includes at least one VNF instance. Therefore, a plurality of VNFs are formed in the network packet processing system 100. This is as shown in FIG.

Here, the memory may be volatile and / or nonvolatile memory, and stores instructions or data related to at least one other component of the server. The processor may include one or more of a central processing unit (CPU), an application processor, or a communication processor.

The control device 120 also includes a processor and a memory, and performs an operation of configuring an SFC. More specifically, the control device 120 sequentially selects M (integer 2 or more) VNFs among a plurality of VNFs, and selects and arranges one VNF instance in each of the selected M VNFs, thereby serving as a service function chaining (SFC). Configure This operation may be performed at least once, so that at least one SFC may be configured in the network packet processing system 100. This is as shown in FIG.

In addition, as mentioned above, in the case of using the NFV technology, vulnerabilities such as software and hardware errors may occur, and when a failure of the VNF occurs, a problem occurs that the whole process of the SFC is stopped. Therefore, NFV-based networks require higher availability (values for determining whether a service is maintained without interruption) than existing networks. Accordingly, the control device 120 according to the present invention can configure the SFC by placing the VNF (that is, placing an instance within the VNF) to ensure high availability.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the control device 120 may select or arrange VNF instances sequentially for M VNFs. At this time, assuming VNF the M VNF i is one of VNF instance in (i is 1 or more integer of not more than M) have been selected, the controller 120 is in the VNF i + 1 for the VNF instance selected from VNF i An availability cost ratio value associated with each of the at least one VNF instance may be calculated, and a VNF instance in the VNF i + 1 corresponding to the maximum value of the at least one availability cost ratio value may be selected. In addition, the above-described operation may be repeatedly performed for all VNFs.

That is, the VNF instance selected in VNF i may have at least one availability cost ratio value, each availability cost ratio value corresponding to at least one VNF instance included in VNF i + 1 , and the control device 120 for instance, VNF selected from VNF i can be selected VNF instance, VNF in the i + 1 has a maximum value of at least one instance, VNF. Here, the availability of the SFC may correspond to a product of the availability of M VNFs, and the availability cost ratio value of the VNF instance is a value calculated to increase the availability of the SFC.

At this time, availability, cost ratio value for the VNF i can be proportional to the availability of VNF instances in VNF i + 1, and inversely proportional to the number of hops distance between VNF instances in VNF i + 1 selected VNF instance in VNF i. Here, it is assumed that VNF instances included in all VNFs are connected to each other in a tree structure or the like. The availability cost ratio value for VNF i may be expressed as Equation 1 below.

는 VNF i에서 선택된 VNF 인스턴스와 VNF i+1 내의 하나의 VNF 인스턴스 간의 가용성 비용 비율 값,

는 VNF i+1 내의 하나의 VNF 인스턴스의 가용성,

는 VNF i에서 선택된 VNF 인스턴스와 VNF i+1 내의 하나의 VNF 인스턴스 간의 홉 수 거리를 각각 의미한다. here,

Is a soluble cost ratio value between VNF instance, VNF in the i + 1 selected in the VNF VNF instance i,

Is the availability of one VNF instance within VNF i + 1 ,

Denotes the hop number distance between the VNF instance selected in VNF i and one VNF instance in VNF i + 1 , respectively.

On the other hand, when there is no VNF instance in the VNF, the control device 120 may newly place the VNF instance in the VNF where the VNF instance does not exist. The new VNF instance should be placed as close as possible to the previous VNF to minimize the bandwidth consumed. In other words, if there is no VNF instance in VNF i + 1 , it should be placed as close as possible to VNF i .

 In other words, the control device 120 may select or deploy a VNF instance in the VNF such that the SFC maximizes availability, and may use the availability cost ratio value. This may be performed through the operation described above, and may be expressed as shown in the algorithm shown in FIG. 3.

On the other hand, even if the SFC is efficiently configured as described above, the case where the availability of the SFC is less than the threshold availability value required by the network packet processing system 100 may occur. In this case, the control device 120 can increase the availability of the SFC by placing additional VNF instances in the VNF.

Accordingly, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the control device 120 measures the availability importance of each of the M VNFs constituting the SFC, for the SFC that is less than or equal to the threshold availability value, and determines the maximum availability importance among the measured availability importance levels. Branches can add VNF instances to VNFs.

As an example, referring to FIG. 4, when the availability of SFC 1 is equal to or less than the threshold availability value, and the availability importance of VFN 1 among the VNFs constituting SFC 1 has a maximum value, the control device 120 includes a new VNF within VFN 1. You can add an instance.

In this case, the availability importance of the VNF may be calculated using the number of SFCs having VNF as a component, the availability of the VNF, and the resource cost required to add the VNF instance to the VNF. That is, the availability importance of VNF i may be expressed as Equation 2 below.

는 VNF i의 가용성 중요도,

는 VNF i 내에 VNF 인스턴스를 추가하기 위해 소요되는 자원 비용,

는 VNF i가 포함된 SFC,

는 네트워크 패킷 처리 시스템에 구성된 SFC의 집합,

는 VNF i의 가용성,

는 VNF i가 포함된 SFC의 가용성을 각각 의미한다. here,

Is the availability importance of VNF i ,

Is the resource cost of adding a VNF instance within VNF i ,

Is an SFC with VNF i ,

Is a set of SFC configured in the network packet processing system,

Is the availability of VNF i ,

Means the availability of each SFC containing VNF i .

Hereinafter, with reference to Figure 5 will be described by comparing the configuration of the prior art and the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, assuming that two SFCs are configured and the critical availability of the two SFCs is 0.92, the current availability of the two SFCs is calculated as in Equation 3 below.

First, the case of the prior art will be described.

For SFC 1, add the VNF instance by selecting VNF 2 with the lowest availability. At this time, the availability of VNF 2 (that is, VNF 2 ') to which the VNF instance is added and the availability of SFC 1 updated through VNF 2' are as shown in Equation 4 below.

In addition, for SFC 2, VNF 4 is added by selecting VNF 4 having the lowest availability. At this time, the availability of VNF 4 (ie, VNF 4 ') with the added VNF instance and the availability of SFC 2 updated through VNF 4' are 0.9964 and 0.9277, respectively.

Meanwhile, the case of the present invention will be described first.

In the case of SFC 1, the availability importance of the four VNFs is measured as described above. For convenience of explanation, assuming that one of VNF 1 and VNF 2 is selected, the availability importance of VNF 1 and the availability importance of VNF 2 are expressed by Equation 5 below.

Therefore, for SFC 1, the availability importance of VNF 1 is maximum, so add a VNF instance to VNF 1. In this case, the availability of VNF 1 with the VNF instance added (ie VNF 1 ') and the availability of SFC 1 updated via VNF 1' are 0.9975 and 0.9273, respectively.

VNF 1 is shared by SFC 1 and SFC 2, and SFC 2 has 0.9273 availability due to the updated availability of VNF 1 (that is, VNF 1 ') (critical availability: 0.92). Do not.

In summary, the present invention adds the VNF instant in consideration of the number of SFCs having VNF as a component, the availability of the VNF, and the resource cost required to add the VNF instance to the VNF. Therefore, there is an advantage that the availability for all SFCs can be increased even with a minimum of resources. On the other hand, the above-described operation may be represented as shown in the algorithm shown in FIG.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a network packet processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The network packet processing method may be performed in an apparatus including a processor, that is, the control apparatus 120. Hereinafter, a process performed for each step will be described.

In step 710, M VNFs among the plurality of VNFs are sequentially selected.

In operation 720, one VNF instance is selected from each of the selected M VNFs to configure the SFC.

At this time, step 720 calculates an availability cost ratio value associated with at least one VNF instance in VNF i + 1 for the VNF instance selected in VNF i , and VNF i corresponding to the maximum value of the availability cost ratio value. You can select a VNF instance within +1 .

In addition, when the configured SFC is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold availability value, in step 720, the availability importance of each of the M VNFs may be measured, and a VNF instance may be added to the VNF having the maximum availability importance among the measured availability importances. .

The embodiments of the method for controlling the network packet processing method according to the present invention have been described so far, and the configuration of the network packet processing system 100 described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6 may be applied to the present embodiment as it is. Therefore, more detailed description will be omitted.

In addition, embodiments of the present invention can be 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, etc. alone or in combination. Program instructions recorded on the media may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, 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. Examples of program instructions such as magneto-optical and ROM, RAM, flash memory, etc. may be executed by a computer using an interpreter as well as machine code such as produced by a compiler. Contains high-level language codes. The hardware device described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of one embodiment of the present invention, and vice versa.

In the present invention as described above has been described by the specific embodiments, such as specific components and limited embodiments and drawings, but this is provided to help the overall understanding of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, Various modifications and variations can be made by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Therefore, the spirit of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, and all the things that are equivalent to or equivalent to the claims as well as the following claims will belong to the scope of the present invention. .

Claims (8)

At least one server, wherein a plurality of virtual network functions (VNFs) are formed in the at least one server, each of the plurality of VNFs including at least one VNF instance; And
A control device configured to sequentially select M (integer 2 or more) VNFs among the plurality of VNFs, and select one VNF instance from each of the selected M VNFs to configure SFC (Service Function Chaining);
The control device calculates an availability cost ratio value respectively associated with at least one VNF instance in VNF i + 1 for the VNF instance selected from VNF i (i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to M), Select a VNF instance within the VNF i + 1 corresponding to a maximum value of
The availability cost ratio value is proportional to the availability of a VNF instance in the VNF i + 1, inversely proportional to the hop number distance between the selected VNF instance in the VNF i and the VNF instance in the VNF i + 1,
The control device, when the configured SFC is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold availability value, measures the availability importance of each of the M VNFs, and adds a VNF instance to the VNF having the maximum availability importance among the measured availability importance levels. Network packet processing system. delete delete The method of claim 1,
The availability importance of the VNF is calculated using the number of SFCs having the VNF as a component, the availability of the VNF, and the resource cost required to add a VNF instance to the VNF. The method of claim 4, wherein
The availability importance level of the VNF i is expressed by the following equation.

here,

Is the availability importance of the VNF i ,

Resource cost for adding a VNF instance within the VNF i ,

Is an SFC including the VNF i ,

Is a set of SFCs configured in the network packet processing system,

Is the availability of the VNF i ,

Is the availability of each SFC containing the VNF i . delete delete In the network packet processing method performed in a network packet processing system having a plurality of VNFs,
Sequentially selecting M (an integer of 2 or more) VNFs among the plurality of VNFs; And
And selecting one VNF instance from each of the selected M VNFs to configure an SFC.
The configuring may include calculating an availability cost ratio value associated with at least one VNF instance in VNF i + 1 for the selected VNF instance in VNF i (i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M), Select a VNF instance within the VNF i + 1 that corresponds to a maximum value among the values,
The availability cost ratio value is proportional to the availability of a VNF instance in the VNF i + 1, inversely proportional to the hop number distance between the selected VNF instance in the VNF i and the VNF instance in the VNF i + 1,
The configuring may include measuring availability importance of each of the M VNFs when the configured SFC is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold availability value, and adding a VNF instance to a VNF having a maximum availability importance among the measured availability importance levels. A network packet processing method characterized by the above-mentioned.

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