WO2016058297A1

WO2016058297A1 - Method and system for achieving load balancing between virtual network elements, and virtual network elements

Info

Publication number: WO2016058297A1
Application number: PCT/CN2015/072129
Authority: WO
Inventors: 郑国斌; 贺旻捷; 郭益军
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2014-10-15
Filing date: 2015-02-03
Publication date: 2016-04-21
Also published as: CN105577561A

Abstract

Disclosed are a method and system for achieving load balancing between virtual network elements, and virtual network elements. The method comprises: a transmitting network element acquires load and idle resource information of each receiving network element; and the transmitting network element selects an appropriate target receiving network element according to the obtained load and idle resource information of each receiving network element. According to the present invention, on the basis of not modifying signalling and message interfaces between the network elements, the transmitting network element can dynamically select an appropriate target receiving network element according to the current load and idle resource information of the receiving network elements, so that signalling and message traffic sent to the receiving network elements are adjusted, load balance between the receiving network elements in a telecommunication network is ensured, the utilization rate of device resources of the receiving network elements is improved, and the principle of allocating resources required by network function virtualization on demand is satisfied, thereby improving the service continuity of a telecommunication network.

Description

Method and system for realizing load balancing between virtualized network elements and virtualized network element

Technical field

The present invention relates to a telecommunications network function virtualization technology, and more particularly to a method and system for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements and a virtualized network element.

Background technique

In order to improve equipment resource utilization, service deployment efficiency, and operation and maintenance costs, the virtualization of telecommunications network functions is the general trend. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has developed the Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) protocol standard, which defines an end-to-end reference architecture in the ETSI NFV specification, in an end-to-end reference architecture. Introduced Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO), Virtual Network Function Manager (VNFM), Virtualized Infrastructure Manager (VIM), Virtualization of Network Functions (VIM) Functional units such as NFVI (Network Functions Virtualization Infrastructure) and Virtual Network Function (VNF). Among them, NFVO is mainly responsible for the network service, virtual resources and physical resource scheduling and related management functions of the whole network; VNFM is mainly responsible for the life cycle management of the network element VNF and the allocation and management of virtual resources related to VNF; VIM is mainly responsible for the virtualization foundation. Facility management, the main function is to realize the allocation and management of the entire infrastructure layer resources including computing, storage and network resources; NFVI as the virtualization resource layer, including the newly added virtualization platform and original hardware resources after virtualization; VNF The virtualized network element is deployed on the NFVI and performs the network element functions defined by the 3GPP. The functions are consistent with those of the non-virtualization.

In a non-virtualized environment, the signaling route and the message distribution route between the network elements in the telecommunication network are mostly implemented according to the statically configured active/standby priority or the round-robin mode (that is, the traditional mode), that is, the originating network element. (For example, the routing agent node (DRA) selects the receiving network element (such as Home Subscriber Server (HSS)) according to the active/standby priority or the round robin mode. The originating network element refers to the network element that actively initiates a signaling and message request, and the receiving end network element refers to the network element that receives a signaling and message request, and the originating network element and the receiving end network element are relative. For a single message or message, the same network element may be the originating network element and sometimes the receiving network element for different messages.

In the active/standby priority mode, as shown in Figure 1, the sending NE (such as NE A) selects the statically configured primary receiving network element (such as NE B) as the target NE. After the failure of the receiving network element, the originating network The element will select the alternate receiving network element (such as the network element C), which results in the utilization of the secondary receiving network element is very low. Moreover, when the primary network element is overloaded, the standby network element cannot take over the network service, resulting in a decrease in business continuity.

In the polling mode, as shown in FIG. 2, the originating network element (such as the network element A) sequentially selects one of the plurality of receiving network elements, and the originating network element does not take into account the actual load of the receiving network element, and partially receives When the end network element is overloaded, the sending network element will continue to send signaling or request messages to the overloaded receiving network element (such as network element B), causing the overloaded network element to be overloaded due to the overload of the receiving network element. Signaling or messaging ultimately results in a decline in business success rate.

After the network function is virtualized, if the sending network element selects the receiving network element in the traditional manner, the load of the receiving network element is unbalanced, and the utilization of the receiving network element and the overall availability of the system are reduced. The basic principles of resource-based use of technology. In order to solve the existing problems in the active/standby priority mode or the rounding mode, at present, the specific processing is further processed, for example:

Some adopt the receiving load balancing mechanism. After the receiving network element receives the signaling and message request, if the receiving network element has a heavy load, the receiving network element forwards it to other similar network elements for processing. This leads to the detour of signaling and request messages, wasting network resources and increasing message processing delay, thus affecting the user experience.

Or, the use of the originating load balancing mechanism is adopted. However, a new gateway device is generally added between the originating network element and the receiving network element, and the gateway device selects a suitable receiving network element. The technology needs to be at the originating end. New equipment is added between the network element and the receiving network element, which changes the telecommunication network architecture and increases the complexity of the telecommunication network.

According to the above analysis, after the network function is virtualized, if the originating network element selects the receiving network element in the traditional way, the load between the network elements is unbalanced, and the principle of resource allocation required for network function virtualization cannot be met. The load and resource idle information between network elements cannot be transmitted by modifying the protocol interface between the network elements.

Summary of the invention

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a method and system for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements and a virtualized network element, which can ensure load balancing between the receiving network elements in the telecommunication network, and improve the device of the receiving network element. The resource utilization rate satisfies the principle of resource allocation on demand as required for network function virtualization, thereby improving the business continuity of the telecommunication network.

In order to achieve the object of the present invention, the present invention provides a method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements, including: the originating network element acquires the load and resource spare information of each receiving network element; and the originating network element obtains the received end according to each Select the target receiving network element for the load and resource vacancy information of the NE.

The method further includes: the receiving network element reporting the current load and resource spare information of the local network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs.

The reporting includes: the receiving network element reporting the load and resource vacancy information to the virtualized network element management entity to which the network element belongs in real time, or event triggering, or timing; or receiving the virtuality to which the receiving network element belongs When the network element management entity requests to report the load and resource vacancy information, the receiving network element reports the load and resource vacancy information; or the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs is required to prohibit the collection. When the end network element reports the load and resource vacancy information, the receiving network element does not report the load and resource vacancy information.

The originating network element obtains the load and resource vacancy information of each receiving network element, and the originating network element subscribes to the load and resource vacancy information of the receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs; The virtualized network element management entity to which the element belongs pushes the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element to the originating network element.

And the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs periodically sends the received end to the subscribed originating network element. The load and resource vacancy information of the network element; or, when receiving the load and resource vacancy information of the new virtualized network element, the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs pushes the subscribed originating network element The load and resource vacancy information of the receiving network element; or the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs to subscribe to the receiving network element and obtain the load and resource vacancy information of the receiving network element, and then obtain The load and resource spare information of the receiving network element is sent to the subscribed originating network element.

The load and resource spare information sent by the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs to the sending network element includes: sending according to a receiving network element; or sending a plurality of the receiving network elements in batches. Load and resource spare information.

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is different from the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs.

The obtaining, by the originating network element, the load and resource vacancy information of the receiving network element includes: the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs to subscribe to the receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs Load and resource vacancy information; the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs pushes the load and resource vacancy information of the subscribed receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs; The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs pushes the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element to the originating network element.

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, before the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, subscribes to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element, and further includes: the virtual entity to which the originating network element belongs The virtual network element management entity requests the virtual network or the coordination entity to query the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs; the virtual network programming/coordinating entity queries the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs and returns to the virtual network element management entity. The identifier information of the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs sends an authorization request to the virtual network ordination/coordinating entity, and the virtual network orchestration/coordinating entity sends the authorization request to the originating network entity NE belongs to The virtualized network element management entity returns the communication connection information; the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is determined according to the identification information of the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs according to the virtual network ordination/coordination entity The communication connection information establishes a communication connection with the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs.

The method further includes: the originating network element locally storing the obtained load and resource spare information of each receiving network element.

When the receiving network element is overloaded, the method further includes: determining, by the sending network element, the subsequent processing according to the pre-configured policy; wherein, the subsequent processing includes: continuing to select one of the receiving network elements as the target network element, or The originating network element no longer sends signaling and message requests to the receiving network element.

When the originating network element initiates the subscription to the load and the resource idle information of the receiving network element, the method further includes: the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs belongs to the originating network element to return a subscription response; the originating end The network element deletes the load and resource spare information of the local storage NE.

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is different from the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs; when the originating network element initiates to subscribe to the load and resource idle information of the receiving network element And the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs to request the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs to subscribe to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element; the receiving network The virtualized network element management entity to which the element belongs belongs to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, and the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs belongs to the originating network element to return a subscription response. The originating network element deletes the load and resource spare information of the local storage network element stored locally.

After the receiving network element is deleted, the method further includes: the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs to notify the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, the originating network element The associated virtualized network element management entity notifies the subscribed originating network element, and the originating network element deletes the locally stored payload and resource idle information of the deleted receiving network element.

When the receiving network element is not in the optional range of the originating network element, the method further includes: the originating network element actively requests the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs to subscribe, and the originating network element belongs to The virtualized network element management entity notifies the virtualized network element management entity to which the corresponding receiving network element belongs to subscribe, or directly notifies the receiving network element to subscribe.

The invention further discloses a system for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements, which comprises at least an originating network element, one or more receiving network elements, and a virtualized network element management entity; wherein the originating network element is set to be The virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs acquires the load and resource spare information of each receiving network element; selects the target receiving network element according to the obtained load and resource spare information of each receiving network element; the virtualized network element management entity , set to The originating network element returns the load and resource spare information of the requesting receiving network element, and the receiving network element is configured to communicate with the originating network element when determining the target receiving network element.

The receiving network element is further configured to report the current load and resource spare information of the local network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element belongs.

The receiving network element is configured to report the load and resource vacancy information to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs, or to report the request of the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs. The notification of the load and the resource vacancy information is reported to the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element management entity belongs to the load and resource vacancy information; or the unicast network element of the virtualized network element management entity to which the affiliation belongs is reported to report the load and the resource vacant information. When reporting, do not report load and resource spare information.

When the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is the same entity as the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, the originating network element is configured to: manage the entity to the virtualized network element to which the virtual network element belongs Subscribing to the load and resource vacancy information of the receiving network element; according to the obtained load and resource vacancy information of each receiving network element, preferably, the receiving network element with low load and large resource vacancy is selected as the target network element; the originating network The virtualized network element management entity to which the element belongs is configured to push the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element to the originating network element.

When the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is different from the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is also set to the receiving end. The virtualized network element management entity to which the network element belongs subscribes to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element; and pushes the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element to the originating network element; the virtuality to which the receiving network element belongs The network element management entity is configured to push the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs.

The system further includes a virtual network orchestration/coordination entity; when the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, subscribes to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is further configured to request the virtual network orchestration/coordinating entity to query the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs; to arrange/coordinate the entity to the virtual network Sending an authorization request; according to the identification information and the communication connection information of the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, and the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs according to the virtual network scheduling/coordinating entity Establishing a communication connection; the virtual network scheduling/coordinating entity is configured to: after querying the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, return the identification information of the virtualized network element management entity to which the sending network element belongs; The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs returns communication connection information.

The network element of the sending end is further configured to locally save the obtained load and resource spare information of each receiving network element.

When the receiving network elements are overloaded, the sending network element is further configured to: determine, according to a pre-configured policy, a subsequent processing; wherein, the subsequent processing includes: continuing to select one of the receiving network elements as the target network element; or The originating network element no longer sends signaling and message requests to the receiving network element.

The originating network element is further configured to initiate a load and resource idle information of the unsubscribed network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element belongs, and delete the load and resources of the local storage network element after receiving the response. The vacant information; the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is further configured to return a de-subscription response to the originating network element.

When the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is different from the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, the originating network element is further configured to initiate to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs. De-subscribing to the load and resource idle information of the receiving network element; deleting the locally stored load and resource spare information of the receiving network element after receiving the response; the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is also set to And requesting, by the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, to subscribe to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element; after receiving the response, returning a de-subscription response to the sending network element; the receiving network element belongs to The virtualized network element management entity is further configured to return a de-subscription response to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs.

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is also configured to notify the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, and the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is also set to Notifying the subscribed originating network element; the originating network element is further configured to delete the locally stored load and resource idle information of the de-subscribed receiving network element.

When the receiving network element is not in the optional range of the originating network element, the originating network element is further configured to actively request the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs to subscribe; the originating network element belongs to The virtualized network element management entity is further configured to receive the request, notify the virtualized network element management entity to which the corresponding receiving network element belongs, or directly notify the receiving network element to subscribe.

The virtualized network element management entity is a network element virtual resource management VNFM entity, or a network element service management EMS entity, or another management entity.

The virtual network orchestration/coordination entity is a network function virtualization orchestrator NFVO, or a network service management OSS entity, or another network element management function entity.

The present invention also discloses a virtualized network element, comprising at least a network element load receiving module, and a network element load control module, wherein the network element load receiving module is configured to obtain each received from the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs. The load and resource vacancy information of the end network element; the network element load control module is configured to select the target receiving network element according to the obtained load and resource vacancy information of each receiving network element.

The network element load receiving module is configured to: subscribe the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element management entity belongs, and receive the subscribed receiving end pushed by the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element management entity belongs. The load and resource spare information of the network element.

The virtualized network element further includes a network element load reporting module, configured to report the current load and resource spare information of the local network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element belongs.

The network element load reporting module is configured to report the load and resource vacancy information to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs, or to receive the virtualized network element to which the receiving network element belongs. The management entity reports the notification of the load and resource vacancy information, and reports the load and resource vacancy information to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs; or receives the banned receiving network of the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs. When the device reports the load and the resource vacancy information, it does not report the load and resource vacancy information to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs.

The network element load receiving module is further configured to locally save the obtained load and resource spare information of each receiving network element.

The network element load control module is further configured to determine subsequent processing according to a pre-configured policy; wherein, the subsequent processing includes: continuing to select one of the receiving network elements as the target network element, or no longer sending signaling and message requests to Receive network element.

The network element load receiving module is further configured to initiate a subscription to the receiving network element load and resource idle information to the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element management entity belongs, and receive a response from the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element belongs. Delete the load and resource spare information of the local storage NE.

Compared with the related art, the technical solution of the present application includes the originating network element acquiring the load and resource spare information of each receiving network element; the originating network element selects an appropriate target according to the obtained load and resource spare information of each receiving network element. End network element. The invention realizes that the originating network element dynamically selects an appropriate destination receiving network element according to the current load and resource idle information of the receiving network element, and adjusts the sending, on the basis of not modifying the signaling and the message interface between the network elements. The signaling and message traffic to the receiving network element ensure the load balancing between the receiving network elements in the telecommunication network, improve the device resource utilization of the receiving network element, and satisfy the resource on-demand allocation required for network function virtualization. The principle of the business continuity of the telecommunications network.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the structure particularly pointed in the appended claims.

DRAWINGS

The drawings described herein are intended to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are intended to be a part of the invention. In the drawing:

1 is a schematic diagram of a master-slave priority mode between an originating network element and a receiving network element in the prior art;

2 is a schematic diagram of a round robin mode between an originating network element and a receiving end network element in the prior art;

3 is a schematic structural diagram of a system for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements according to the present invention;

4 is a schematic structural diagram of a first embodiment of a system for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a second embodiment of a system for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements according to the present invention; FIG.

6 is a schematic structural diagram of a virtualized network element according to the present invention;

7 is a flowchart of a method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements according to the present invention;

8 is a schematic flowchart of a first embodiment of a subscription load in a method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements according to the present invention;

9 is a schematic flowchart of a second embodiment of a subscription load in a method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements according to the present invention;

10 is a schematic flowchart of a first embodiment of reporting and receiving a load in a method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements according to the present invention;

11 is a schematic flowchart of a second embodiment of reporting and receiving a load in a method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic flowchart of an embodiment of a method for implementing a load balancing between network elements in a virtualized network element according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic flowchart diagram of a first embodiment of de-subscribing in a method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements according to the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a schematic flowchart diagram of a second embodiment of de-subscribing in a method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements according to the present invention.

detailed description

The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, in the case of no conflict, the features in the embodiments and the embodiments in the present application may be arbitrarily combined with each other.

From the existing two methods, after the network function is virtualized, the load balancing control should be performed on the sending NE. That is, when the sending NE selects the receiving NE, it needs to know the current actual load of the receiving NE. The resource idle information is used to select the receiving network element with a relatively low load as the target network element. However, since network function virtualization does not involve the extension of signaling and services between the originating network element and the receiving network element, new network elements are not added between the network elements. Therefore, the originating network element and the receiving end network A new collaboration process cannot be added between the elements, and the current interaction between the network elements and the resource idle information cannot be directly transmitted through the existing originating load balancing mechanism to increase the current load and resource idle information between the network elements, and cannot be used at the originating and receiving network elements. Add new devices between them to achieve load balancing.

3 is a schematic structural diagram of a system for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the method includes at least an originating network element, one or more receiving network elements, and a virtualized network element management entity, where ,

The originating network element is configured to obtain the load and resource spare information of each receiving network element from the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element belongs, and select the target receiving network element according to the obtained load and resource spare information of each receiving network element. .

The virtualized network element management entity is configured to return the load and resource spare information of the requested receiving network element to the originating network element.

The receiving network element is configured to communicate with the originating network element when it is determined to be the target receiving network element.

The receiving network element is further configured to report the current load and resource spare information of the local network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element belongs. For example, you can set it to:

The real-time or event-triggered (such as the network element load spanning the preset field value) or the timing (interval configurable) reports the load and resource vacancy information to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs; or receives the receiving network The virtualized network element management entity to which the element belongs is required to report the load and resource vacancy information, and report the load and resource vacancy information to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs; or receive the virtualized network element to which the receiving network element belongs. When the management entity prohibits the receiving network element from reporting the notification of the load and resource vacancy information, it does not report the load and resource vacancy information. In the case of event triggering, assume that the threshold is set to 50%, and the network element load rises from 45% and reaches When the value is 50% or higher, the receiving network element is triggered to report its own load to the virtualized network element management entity; when the load is increased from 50% to 60%, the reporting is not triggered because the load change does not exceed the predetermined value of 50%. .

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is the same entity as the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, as shown in FIG.

For example, the originating network element may be configured to: subscribe the load and resource vacancy information of the receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs; according to the obtained load and resource vacancy information of each receiving network element, according to the advance The selected selection policy preferably selects a receiving network element with a relatively low load or a large resource vacancy as its target network element; wherein the selection strategy can be flexibly set in advance, and the load can be selected to be relatively low, or the resource vacancy can be selected. It is to be understood that the scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope of protection of the present invention, and is not described herein. at this time,

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is configured to push the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element to the originating network element, for example, periodically send the received content to the subscribed originating network element. The load and resource vacancy information of the end network element, or the load and resource vacancy information of the receiving network element are immediately pushed to the subscribed originating network element, or when the new virtualized network element's load and resource vacancy information is received, or The network element is first subscribed to the receiving network element and obtained the load and resource vacancy information of the receiving network element, and then sent to the sending network element.

When the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is not the same entity as the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs to the subscription request determines the receiving end. When the network element is not in the management scope, the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is also configured to subscribe to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs; The originating network element pushes the load and resource vacancy information of the subscribed receiving network element. At this time, the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs is set to push the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs. The load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element.

The system of the present invention further includes a virtual network ordination/coordination entity, and the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs subscribes to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs. The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is further configured to request the virtual network ordination entity to query the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, and send an authorization request to the virtual network or/or coordination entity. That is, the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs is established with the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, and the load and resource spare information between the switching network elements is allowed to be exchanged; the entity is arranged/coordinated according to the virtual network. The identification information and the communication connection information of the virtualized network element management entity to which the returned network element belongs are established, and establish a communication connection with the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs; the virtual network orchestration/coordinating entity is set to query After the virtualized network element management entity to which the network element belongs, the virtualized network element management entity belongs to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, and returns the communication connection information to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs.

The sender network element is further configured to locally save the obtained load and resource spare information of each receiving network element.

When the receiving network element load and the resource vacancy information do not meet the requirements of the sending network element, for example, when all the receiving network elements are overloaded, the originating network element is also set to, the originating network element determines the follow-up according to the pre-configured/defined policy. Processing, wherein the subsequent processing includes, but is not limited to, continuing to select one of the receiving network elements as the target network element, or the originating network element no longer sends signaling and message requests to the receiving network element.

The originating network element is further configured to initiate a load to the receiving network element and the resource idle information to the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element belongs, and delete the locally stored load and resource spare information of the receiving network element after receiving the response. The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is further configured to return a subscription response to the originating network element.

In particular,

If the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is not the same entity as the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, as shown in FIG. 5, the virtualized network to which the originating network element receives the sub-subscription request belongs. When the network element management entity determines that the receiving network element is not in its management scope, the originating network element is further configured to initiate a subscription to the receiving network element load and resource idle information to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs; The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is also configured to request to subscribe to the receiving end of the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs. The load and resource vacancy information of the network element; after receiving the response, the unsubscribed response is returned to the sending network element; the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs is also set to manage the virtualized network element to which the originating network element belongs. The entity returns to the subscription response.

After the receiving network element is de-subscribed, the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs is also configured to notify the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs; the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs It is also configured to notify the subscribed originating network element, the originating network element, and also set to delete the locally stored payload and resource idle information of the deleted receiving network element.

When the receiving network element is not in the optional range of the originating network element, the originating network element is further configured to actively request the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs to subscribe; the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs And, after receiving the request, notifying the virtualized network element management entity to which the corresponding receiving network element belongs or directly notifying the receiving network element to subscribe.

Here, how to determine whether the receiving network element is within the optional range of the sending network element belongs to the well-known technology of the present invention, and the specific implementation is not used to limit the protection scope of the present invention, and details are not described herein again.

It should be noted that, if the originating network element does not receive the load and resource idle information of the receiving network element pushed by the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element belongs, the originating network element is further configured to send signaling to the receiving network element. , message request.

The virtualized network element management entity in the system of the present invention may be a virtual element virtual resource management (VNFM) entity in the ETSI NFV reference architecture, or an element management system (EMS) entity in the actual application scenario. It can also be other management entities. To simplify the description, the virtualization management entity is described as VNFM in the embodiment.

It should be noted that the same virtualized network element can be either the receiving network element or the originating network element. That is, the same virtualized network element can report the load and resource spare information of the local network element. You can receive and save the load and resource spare information of other network elements.

In the actual application scenario, the virtual network orchestration/coordination entity may be an NFVO or an Orchestrator in the ETSI NFV reference architecture, or an OSS (Operation Support System) entity in the telecommunication network, or other network elements. Manage functional entities. To simplify the description, the virtualized network orchestration/coordination entity in the embodiments herein is described using NFVO (or Orchestrator).

It should be noted that the virtualized network element management entity in the system of the present invention is located outside the virtualized network element, and can be deployed independently or in combination with the virtual network ordination/coordination entity; the virtual network orchestration in the system of the present invention/ The coordination entity is located outside the virtualized network element and can be deployed independently or in combination with the virtualized network element management entity.

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a virtualized network element according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, the method includes at least a network element load receiving module, and a network element load control module, where

The network element load receiving module is configured to obtain the load and resource vacancy information of each receiving network element from the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs, and set the following to: subscribe the receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs. Load and resource vacancy information, receiving load and resource vacancy information from the subscribed receiving network element pushed by the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs;

The network element load control module is configured to select the target receiving network element according to the obtained load and resource spare information of each receiving network element. Here, the receiving network element with a relatively low load or a large resource vacancy is preferably selected as the target network element according to the preset selection policy and the obtained load and resource vacancy information of each receiving network element.

The virtualized network element of the present invention further includes a network element load reporting module, configured to report the current load and resource spare information of the local network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element belongs. For example, you can set it to,

The real-time or event triggering (such as the network element load spanning a predetermined value) or the timing (interval configurable) reports the load and resource vacancy information to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs; or receives the receiving network element When the virtualized network element management entity is required to report the load and the resource vacancy information, the receiving network element reports the load and resource vacancy information to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs; or receives the receiving network When the virtualized network element management entity to which the element belongs is required to prohibit the receiving network element from reporting the notification of the load and resource vacancy information, the load and resource vacancy information are not reported.

When the receiving network element load and the resource vacancy information do not meet the requirements of the sending network element, for example, when all the receiving network elements are overloaded,

The network element load control module is further configured to determine subsequent processing according to a pre-configured policy, where the subsequent processing includes but is not limited to: continuing to select one of the receiving network elements as the target network element, or no longer sending signaling and message requests. Go to the receiving network element.

The network element load receiving module is further configured to initiate a de-subscription to the receiving network element load and resource idle information to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs; receive a response from the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs, and delete the local The stored load and resource spare information of the receiving network element.

The interaction channel between the network element load reporting module and the virtualized network element management entity in the virtualized network element of the present invention is a reporting function that adds load and resource vacancy information on the VNFM and VNF of the ETSI NFV standard specification.

The interaction channel between the network element load receiving module and the virtualized network element management entity in the virtualized network element of the present invention is a reporting function of adding load and resource spare information on the VNFM and VNF of the ETSI NFV standard specification.

It should be noted that the virtualized network element of the present invention further includes other functional modules in the existing network element, which are not limited thereto, and are not limited to the scope of protection of the present invention, and are known to those skilled in the art. There are modules, so I won't go into details here.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the method includes the following steps:

Step 700: The originating network element obtains the load and resource spare information of each receiving network element.

Before the step, the receiving network element reports the current load and resource spare information of the local network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs. The receiving network element can be triggered by real-time or event (such as network element load). The virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs is required to report the load and resource vacancy information to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs, or the time interval (interval configurable); or the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs The end network element reports the load and resource vacancy information, or prohibits the receiving network element from reporting the load and resource vacancy information.

In the present invention, the virtualized network element management entity may be an element virtual resource management (VNFM) entity in the ETSI NFV reference architecture, or an element management system (EMS) entity. It can also be other management entities. In order to simplify the description, the virtualization management entity is described as VNFM in the embodiment.

This step specifically includes:

The originating network element subscribes to the load and resource vacancy information of the receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs. For example, the originating network element initiates the subscription receiving network element when the system starts, or when a new receiving network element is found. Load and resource spare information;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs pushes the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element to the originating network element. The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs may periodically send the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element that has been obtained to the subscribed originating network element, or receive the load of the new virtualized network element. And the resource vacancy information, immediately push the load and resource vacancy information of the receiving network element to the subscribed originating network element, or first subscribe to the receiving network element and obtain the load and resource vacancy information of the receiving network element, and then send the information. Give the subscribed originating network element.

The load and resource spare information sent by the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs to the sending network element includes: sending according to a receiving network element; or sending the load of multiple receiving network elements in batches. Resource spare information.

In particular, if the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is not the same entity as the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element to which the subscription request is received belongs. When it is determined that the receiving network element is not in the management scope, the step further includes:

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs subscribes to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs pushes the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs pushes the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element to the originating network element.

Before the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs is subscribed to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element, the method further includes:

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs to the virtual network ordinal/coordinating entity requests to query the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs;

After the virtual network or the coordination entity queries the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, it returns the identification information of the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, and the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs The virtual network orchestration/coordination entity sends an authorization request, that is, the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs and the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs establish communication connection, and allow the load and resources between the switching network elements. The vacant information, the virtual network orchestration/coordination entity returns the communication connection information to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is based on the identification information and the communication connection information of the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, which is returned by the virtual network or the coordination entity, and the virtualized network to which the receiving network element belongs. The meta management entity establishes a communication connection.

In the present invention, the virtual network orchestration/coordination entity may be an NFVO or an Orchestrator in the ETSI NFV reference architecture, or an OSS (Operation Support System) entity in the telecommunication network, or may be Other network element management functional entities. To simplify the description, the virtualized network orchestration/coordination entity in the embodiments herein is described using NFVO (or Orchestrator).

The step further includes: the originating network element locally saves the obtained load and resource spare information of each receiving network element.

Step 701: The originating network element selects an appropriate target receiving network element according to the obtained load and resource spare information of each receiving network element.

The step includes: when the sending network element selects the target receiving network element, if there are multiple receiving network elements, the signaling mechanism and the message request may be processed according to a preset selection policy, such as configuring a load factor and a resource vacancy factor. Priority, if the priority of the load factor is high, that is, the receiving network element with low load is selected as the target receiving network element; if the priority of the resource vacant factor is high, the receiving network element with large resource vacancy is selected as the target network. Preferably, the receiving network element with low load or large resource vacancy is selected as its target receiving network element. This is just an example and is not set to limit the selection strategy.

Further, when the receiving network element load and the resource vacancy information do not meet the requirements of the sending network element, for example, when all the receiving network elements are overloaded, the originating network element may determine the subsequent processing according to the pre-configured/defined policy, where The subsequent processing includes, but is not limited to, continuing to select one of the receiving network elements as the target network element, or the originating network element no longer sends signaling and message requests to the receiving network element.

When the originating network element initiates the subscription to the load of the receiving network element and the resource idle information, the method of the present invention further includes: the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs belongs to the originating network element to return a subscription response, and the originating network element deletes Locally stored load and resource spare information of the receiving network element. Here, the load and resource idle information of the originating network element to be subscribed to the receiving network element includes but is not limited to: the receiving network element is deleted, or the receiving network element no longer belongs to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs. The scope of management, or when the originating network element initiates a subscription request. In particular,

If the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is not the same entity as the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs to receive the sub-subscription request is determined. When the end network element is not in its management scope, it also includes:

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, requests the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs to subscribe to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs returns a subscription response to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs belongs to the originating network element to return a sub-subscription response, and the originating network element deletes the locally stored load and resource spare information of the receiving end network element.

After the receiving network element is deleted, the method further includes:

The virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs informs the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, and the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs notifies the subscribed originating network element, and the originating network element deletes the local saving. The above-mentioned load and resource idle information of the receiving network element has been deleted.

When the receiving network element is not in the optional range of the originating network element, the method further includes: the originating network element actively requests the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs to subscribe, and the virtualized network element management to which the originating network element belongs The entity notifies the corresponding virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs (the receiving end and the sending network element are not in the management scope of the same virtualized network element management entity) or directly informs the receiving network element to subscribe.

It should be noted that, if the originating network element does not receive the load and resource idle information of the receiving network element pushed by the virtualized network element management entity to which the calling network element belongs, the sending network element can still send signaling and message to the receiving network element. request.

The method of the present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with specific embodiments. In the following embodiments, the virtualized network element is a VNF, the virtualized network element management entity is a VNFM, and the virtual network orchestration/coordinating entity is an NFVO.

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of a first embodiment of a subscription load in a method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements. In the first embodiment of the subscription load, it is assumed that the originating network element and the receiving network element belong to the same VNFM. That is, the originating network element and the receiving network element belong to the same VNFM management scope. As shown in FIG. 8, the process of the load and resource spare information of the subscription VNF (Receiver VNF) initiated by the originating VNF (Sender VNF) includes :

Step 800: The network element load receiving module of the originating VNF initiates a load request for subscribing to the receiving network element to the sender VNFM (Sender VNFM) of the originating VNF.

Step 801: The originating VNFM confirms that the terminating VNF belongs to the VNFM management scope, that is, the originating VNF and the terminating VNF belong to the same VNFM, that is, the originating VNFM and the terminating VNFM in this embodiment are the same entity.

Step 802: The originating VNFM initiates a load request for subscribing to the receiving network element to the receiving end VNF.

Step 803: The network element load reporting module of the receiving end VNF returns a load response of the receiving and receiving network element to the originating VNFM. The load response carries the load and resource spare information of each receiving VNF that the originating VNF has subscribed to.

Step 804: The originating VNFM returns a load response of the subscription receiving network element to the originating VNF.

Step 802 and step 803 are optional steps, that is, the subscription request is only processed by the receiving end VNFM (in this embodiment, the originating VNFM), and is not sent to the subscribed receiving end VNF, and the receiving end VNF only needs real time. Or report the load and resource vacancy information to the originating VNFM periodically.

FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart of a second embodiment of a subscription load in a method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements according to the present invention. In the second embodiment of the subscription load, it is assumed that the originating network element and the receiving network element belong to different VNFMs. That is, the originating VNF belongs to the management scope of the originating VNFM, and the receiving VNF belongs to the management scope of the receiving VNFM. As shown in FIG. 9, the process of the bearer VNF initiated subscription and receiving end VNF load and resource spare information includes:

Step 900: The network element load receiving module of the originating VNF initiates a load request for subscribing to the receiving network element to the originating VNFM.

Step 901: The originating VNFM confirms that the terminating VNF does not belong to the VNFM management scope, that is, the originating VNF and the terminating VNF belong to different VNFMs.

Step 902: The originating VNFM sends a request to the NFVO to query the VNFM that the receiving VNF belongs to, that is, the receiving VNFM request.

Step 903: The NFVO returns a VNFM response to the originating VNF to the originating VNFM, where the response carries the VNFM identifier of the terminating VNF to which the terminating VNF belongs, and information required for establishing a communication connection.

Step 904: The originating VNFM sends a request to the NFVO to request the VNFM to establish a communication connection channel and exchange the load and resource spare information of the network element.

Step 905: The NFVO sends a request for the authorization and the originating VNFM to establish a communication connection channel and exchange the load and resource spare information of the network element to the receiving end VNFM.

Step 906: The receiving end VNFM returns the authorization and the originating VNFM to the NFVO to establish a response of the communication connection channel and the load and resource spare information of the switching network element.

Step 907: The NFVO returns the response of the application and the receiving VNFM to the originating VNFM to establish a communication connection channel and a load and resource spare information of the switching network element.

Step 908: Establish a communication connection channel between the originating VNFM and the terminating VNFM.

Step 909: The originating VNFM sends a load information request for subscribing to the receiving network element to the receiving end VNFM.

Step 910: The receiving end VNFM sends a load information request for subscribing to the receiving network element to the network element load reporting module in the receiving end VNF.

Step 911: The network element load reporting module in the receiving VNF returns a load information response of the receiving and receiving network element to the receiving end VNFM. The load response and the resource spare information are carried in the load response.

Step 912: The receiving end VNFM returns a load information response of the subscription receiving network element to the originating VNFM. The load response carries the load and resource spare information of each receiving VNF that the originating VNF has subscribed to.

Step 913: The originating VNFM returns a load information response of the subscription receiving network element to the network element load receiving module of the originating VNF.

Step 904, step 905, step 906, and step 907 are optional steps, that is, the originating VNFM can directly establish a communication connection channel with the receiving end VNFM without being authorized by the NFVO.

Step 910 and step 911 are optional steps, that is, the subscription request is only processed by the receiving end VNFM, and is not sent to the subscribed receiving end VNF, and the receiving end VNF only needs to report its load to the receiving end VNFM in real time or periodically. And the resources are free.

10 is a schematic flowchart of a first embodiment of reporting and receiving a load in a method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements. In the first embodiment of reporting and receiving a load, assuming that the originating network element and the receiving end network element belong to The same VNFM, that is, the originating network element and the receiving network element belong to the same VNFM management scope, and it is assumed that the originating VNF pre-subscribes the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element; as shown in FIG. 10, the receiving end VNF The process of load reporting and sending VNF receiving load information includes:

Step 1000: The network element load reporting module of the receiving end VNF reports the load and resource spare information of the local network element to the receiving end VNFM.

Step 1001: The receiving end VNFM (that is, the originating VNFM in this embodiment) sends the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving end VNF to the network element load receiving module of the originating VNF.

Step 1002: The network element load receiving module of the originating VNF saves the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving end VNF.

It should be noted that, preferably, the manner adopted in this embodiment is: the receiving end VNF reporting is a process initiated on the basis that the originating VNF has subscribed. Of course, it can also be adopted that when the originating VNF is not subscribed, the receiving VNF reports its own load and resource idle information by means of broadcast or multicast.

FIG. 11 is a schematic flowchart of a second embodiment of reporting and receiving a load in a method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements according to the present invention. In a second embodiment of reporting and receiving a load, assuming that the originating network element and the receiving end network element belong to In different VNFMs, that is, the originating VNF belongs to the management scope of the originating VNFM, and the receiving VNF belongs to the management scope of the receiving VNFM, and it is assumed that the originating VNF subscribes in advance to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element; as shown in FIG. The load reporting of the terminal VNF and the process of receiving the load information by the originating VNF include:

Step 1100: The network element load reporting module of the receiving end VNF reports the load and resource spare information of the local network element to the receiving end VNFM.

Step 1101: The receiving end VNFM sends the bearer VNF load and resource spare information to the originating VNFM.

Step 1102: The originating VNFM sends the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving end VNF to the network element load receiving module of the originating VNF.

Step 1103: The network element load receiving module of the originating VNF saves the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving end VNF.

FIG. 12 is a schematic flowchart of an embodiment of a method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements in a method for selecting a receiving network element by a sending end network element, as shown in FIG. 12, including:

Step 1200: The network element load control module of the originating VNF obtains the load and resource idle information of the receiving end VNF (in this embodiment, the receiving end VNF1 and the receiving end VNF2) stored in the network element load receiving module.

In this embodiment, the load of the receiving end VNF1 is higher than that of the receiving end VNF2.

Step 1201: The network element load control module of the originating VNF selects the smaller-end receiving end VNF2 as the target network element.

It should be noted that, if the load and resource vacancy information of the receiving end VNF do not meet the requirements of the originating network element, for example, when the receiving end VNF1 and the receiving end VNF2 are overloaded, the originating VNF may determine the follow-up according to the configurable/defined policy. Processing, for example, continues to select one of the receiving VNFs as the target receiving network element; or, the originating VNF no longer sends signaling and message requests to the receiving VNF.

Step 1202: The network element load control module of the originating VNF sends a signaling and a message request to the receiving end VNF2. The specific implementation here is a prior art, and is not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention, and details are not described herein again.

FIG. 13 is a schematic flowchart of a first embodiment of de-subscribing in a method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements according to the present invention. In the first embodiment of de-subscribing, it is assumed that the originating network element and the receiving network element belong to the same VNFM. That is, the originating network element and the receiving network element belong to the same VNFM management scope. As shown in FIG. 13, the process of the bearer VNF initiated to subscribe to the receiving VNF payload and resource spare information includes:

Step 1300: The network element load receiving module of the originating VNF initiates a load request for subscribing to the receiving network element to the sender VNFM (Sender VNFM) of the originating VNF.

Step 1301: The originating VNFM confirms that the terminating VNF belongs to the VNFM management scope, that is, the originating VNF and the terminating VNF belong to the same VNFM, that is, the originating VNFM and the terminating VNFM in this embodiment are the same entity.

Step 1302: The originating VNFM initiates a load request for subscribing to the receiving network element to the receiving end VNF.

Step 1303: The network element load reporting module of the receiving end VNF returns a load response of the receiving and receiving network element to the originating VNFM.

Step 1304: The originating VNFM returns a load response of the subscription receiving network element to the originating VNF.

Step 1305: The network element load receiving module of the originating VNF deletes the load and resource idle information of the locally saved and subscribed receiving network element.

Steps 1302 and 1303 are optional steps, that is, the subscription request is only processed by the receiving end VNFM (in this embodiment, the originating VNFM), and is not sent to the subscribed receiving end VNF, and the receiving end VNF only needs real time. Or report the load and resource vacancy information to the originating VNFM periodically.

FIG. 14 is a schematic flowchart of a second embodiment of de-subscribing in a method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements according to the present invention. In a second embodiment of de-subscribing load, it is assumed that the originating network element and the receiving network element belong to different VNFMs. That is, the originating VNF belongs to the management scope of the originating VNFM, and the receiving VNF belongs to the management scope of the receiving VNFM. As shown in FIG. 14, the process of the bearer VNF initiating the load and resource spare information of the unsubscribed VNF is:

Step 1400: The network element load receiving module of the originating VNF initiates a load request to the originating VNFM to subscribe to the receiving network element.

Step 1401: The originating VNFM confirms that the terminating VNF does not belong to the VNFM management scope, that is, the originating VNF and the terminating VNF belong to different VNFMs.

Step 1402: The originating VNFM sends a load information request to the receiving end VNFM to subscribe to the receiving network element.

Step 1403: The receiving end VNFM sends a load information request for subscribing to the receiving network element to the network element load reporting module in the receiving end VNF.

Step 1404: The network element load reporting module in the receiving VNF returns a load information response to the receiving end network element to the receiving end VNFM.

Step 1405: The receiving end VNFM returns a load information response to the receiving end network element to the originating VNFM.

Step 1406: The originating VNFM returns a load information response of the subscription receiving network element to the network element load receiving module of the originating VNF.

Step 1407: The network element load receiving module of the originating VNF deletes the load and resource idle information of the locally-preserved de-subscribed receiving network element.

Step 1403 and step 1404 are optional steps, that is, the de-subscription request is only processed by the receiving end VNFM, and is not sent to the subscribed receiving end VNF.

The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and scope of the present invention are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

Industrial applicability

The foregoing embodiment and the preferred implementation manner enable the originating network element to dynamically select an appropriate destination receiving end according to the current load and resource idle information of the receiving network element, without modifying the signaling and message interface between the network elements. The network element adjusts the signaling and message traffic sent to the receiving network element, ensures load balancing between the receiving network elements in the telecommunication network, improves the device resource utilization of the receiving network element, and satisfies the network function virtual The need for resources is allocated on an as-needed basis, thereby enhancing the business continuity of the telecommunications network.

Claims

A method for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements includes: acquiring, by the originating network element, load and resource spare information of each receiving network element;

The originating network element selects the target receiving network element according to the obtained load and resource spare information of each receiving network element.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: the receiving network element reporting the current load and resource spare information of the local network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs.
The method of claim 2 wherein said reporting comprises:

The receiving network element reports the load and resource vacancy information to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs in real time, or event triggering, or periodically;

Or, when receiving the notification that the virtualized network element management entity to which the terminating network element belongs is required to report the load and resource vacancy information, the receiving network element reports the load and resource vacancy information; or receives the receiving When the virtualized network element management entity to which the end network element belongs is required to prevent the receiving network element from reporting the load and resource vacancy information, the receiving network element does not report the load and resource vacancy information.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the obtaining, by the originating network element, the load and resource spare information of each receiving network element comprises:

The originating network element subscribes to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs pushes the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element to the originating network element.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the pushing the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element to the originating network element comprises:

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs periodically periodically sends the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element that has been obtained to the subscribed originating network element;

Or, when receiving the load and resource vacancy information of the new virtualized network element, the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs pushes the load and resource vacancy of the receiving network element to the subscribed originating network element. Information

Alternatively, the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs subscribes to the receiving network element and obtains the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element, and then obtains the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element. Send to the subscribed originating network element.
The method according to claim 5, wherein the load and resource spare information sent by the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs to the originating network element includes:

Send according to a receiving network element;

Alternatively, the load and resource spare information of the plurality of receiving network elements are sent in batches at a time.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is different from the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs;

The information that the originating network element obtains the load and resource spare information of each receiving network element includes:

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs subscribes to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs pushes the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs pushes the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element to the originating network element.
The method according to claim 7, wherein the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs before the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs is subscribed to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element. Also includes:

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs to the virtual network ordinal/coordinating entity requests to query the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs;

The virtual network or the coordination entity queries the virtualized network element management entity to which the network element belongs to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, and the virtualized network to which the originating network element belongs The meta-management entity sends an authorization request to the virtual network orchestration/coordination entity, and the virtual network ordination/coordination entity returns the communication connection information to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, according to the virtual network element management entity, the identification information and the communication connection information of the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, and the receiving network element belongs to The virtualized network element management entity establishes a communication connection.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the method further comprises: the originating network element locally storing the obtained load and resource spare information of each receiving network element.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the terminating network element is overloaded, the method further comprises:

The originating network element determines subsequent processing according to a pre-configured policy;

The subsequent processing includes: continuing to select one of the receiving network elements as the target network element, or the transmitting network element does not send signaling and message request to the receiving network element.
The method of claim 2, wherein when the originating network element initiates a subscription to the load and resource idle information of the receiving network element, the method further includes:

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs belongs to the originating network element to return a subscription response.

The originating network element deletes the load and resource spare information of the local storage network element stored locally.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is different from the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs;

When the originating network element initiates the subscription to the load and resource idle information of the receiving network element, the method further includes:

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, requests the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs to subscribe to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs returns a subscription response to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs has returned a de-subscription response to the originating network element, and the originating network element deletes the locally stored load and resource spare information of the receiving network element.
The method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein, after the receiving network element is deleted, the method further comprises:

The virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs is notified to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, and the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is notified to the subscribed originating network element. The originating network element deletes the locally stored payload and resource idle information of the deleted receiving network element.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the terminating network element is not in the selectable range of the originating network element, the method further comprises:

The originating network element actively requests the virtualized network element management entity to which the network element belongs to subscribe, and the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs notifies the virtualized network element management entity to which the corresponding receiving network element belongs to subscribe. Or directly notify the receiving network element to subscribe.
A system for implementing load balancing between virtualized network elements includes at least a sending network element, one or more receiving network elements, and a virtualized network element management entity;

The originating network element is configured to obtain the load and resource spare information of each receiving network element from the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element belongs, and select the target receiving network element according to the obtained load and resource spare information of each receiving network element. ;

The virtualized network element management entity is configured to return the load and resource spare information of the requested receiving network element to the originating network element;

The receiving network element is configured to communicate with the originating network element when it is determined to be the target receiving network element.
The system of claim 15, wherein the receiving network element is further configured to report the current load and resource spare information of the local network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element belongs.
The system according to claim 16, wherein the receiving network element is specifically configured to: report the load and resource vacancy information to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs, in real time, or event triggering, or periodically;

Or, receiving the notification that the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element belongs is required to report the load and the resource vacancy information, and reporting the load and resource vacancy information to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs; or receiving the virtualized network to which it belongs. When the meta-management entity prohibits the receiving network element from reporting the notification of the load and resource vacancy information, it does not report the load and resource vacancy information.
The system according to claim 15, wherein when the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is the same entity as the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs,

The originating network element is configured to: subscribe the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element belongs, and select the low load according to the obtained load and resource spare information of each receiving network element. The receiving network element with large resource vacancies is used as its target network element;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is configured to push the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element to the originating network element.
The system according to claim 15, wherein when the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is different from the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs,

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is further configured to subscribe to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs; and push the subscribed to the originating network element. The load and resource spare information of the receiving network element;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs is configured to push the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs.
A system according to claim 18 or 19, wherein the system further comprises a virtual network orchestration/coordination entity;

When the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs, subscribes to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs,

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is further configured to request the virtual network orchestration/coordinating entity to query the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs; to arrange/coordinate the entity to the virtual network Sending an authorization request; according to the identification information and the communication connection information of the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, and the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs according to the virtual network scheduling/coordinating entity Establish a communication connection;

The virtual network scheduling/coordinating entity is configured to: after querying the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, return the identification information of the virtualized network element management entity to which the sending network element belongs; to the originating network The virtualized network element management entity to which the element belongs returns communication connection information.
The system according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the sender network element is further configured to locally store the obtained load and resource spare information of each of the receiving network elements.
The system according to claim 15 or 16, wherein when the receiving network elements are overloaded, the originating network element is further configured to

The subsequent processing is determined according to the pre-configured policy; wherein the subsequent processing includes: continuing to select one of the receiving network elements as the target network element; or the originating network element no longer sends signaling and message requests to the receiving network element.
The system of claim 16, wherein the originating network element is further configured to initiate a de-subscription to the receiving network element load and resource idle information to the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element management entity belongs; The stored load and resource spare information of the receiving network element;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is further configured to return a de-subscription response to the originating network element.
The system according to claim 23, wherein when the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is different from the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs,

The originating network element is further configured to initiate a load and resource idle information of the unsubscribed network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element belongs, and delete the load and resources of the local storage network element after receiving the response. Free information;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is further configured to request, for the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, to subscribe to the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element; Returning a subscription response to the originating network element;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs is further configured to return a de-subscription response to the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs.
The system according to claim 23 or 24, wherein the virtualized network element management entity to which the terminating network element belongs is further configured to notify the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is further configured to notify the subscribed originating network element;

The originating network element is further configured to delete the locally stored payload and resource idle information of the de-subscribed receiving network element.
The system according to claim 15 or 16, wherein when the terminating network element is not within an optional range of the originating network element,

The originating network element is further configured to actively request the virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs to subscribe;

The virtualized network element management entity to which the originating network element belongs is also configured to receive the request, notify the virtualized network element management entity to which the corresponding receiving network element belongs, or directly notify the receiving network element to subscribe.
The system according to claim 15, wherein the virtualized network element management entity is a network element virtual resource management VNFM entity, or a network element service management EMS entity, or another management entity.
The system of claim 20, wherein the virtual network orchestration/coordination entity is a network function virtualization orchestrator NFVO, or a network service management OSS entity, or another network element management function entity.
A virtualized network element includes at least a network element load receiving module and a network element load control module, where

The network element load receiving module is configured to obtain load and resource spare information of each receiving network element from the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs;

The network element load control module is configured to select the target receiving network element according to the obtained load and resource spare information of each receiving network element.
The virtualized network element according to claim 29, wherein the network element load receiving module is configured to: subscribe the load and resource spare information of the receiving network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element management entity belongs, and receive the information from the own The virtualized network element manages the load and resource spare information of the subscribed receiving network element pushed by the entity.
The virtualized network element according to claim 29, wherein the virtualized network element further comprises a network element load reporting module, configured to report the current load and resource vacancy of the local network element to the virtualized network element management entity to which the virtual network element belongs. information.
The virtualized network element according to claim 31, wherein the network element load reporting module is configured to report load and resource vacancy information to a virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs, in real time, or event triggering, or periodically;

Or, after receiving the request of the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs, report the load and the resource spare information, and report the load and resource spare information to the virtualized network element management entity to which the receiving network element belongs; or receive the receiving end When the notification of the load and resource vacancy information is reported by the spoofing network element of the virtualized network element management entity to which the network element belongs, the load and resource vacancy information is not reported to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs.
The virtualized network element according to claim 29 or 31, wherein the network element load receiving module is further configured to locally save the obtained load and resource spare information of each receiving network element.
The virtualized network element according to claim 29 or 31, wherein the network element load control module is further configured to determine subsequent processing according to a pre-configured policy;

The subsequent processing includes: continuing to select one of the receiving network elements as the target network element, or no longer sending signaling and message requests to the receiving network element.
The virtualized network element according to claim 29 or 31, wherein the network element load receiving module is further configured to initiate a subscription to the receiving network element load and resource idle information to the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs. Receiving a response from the virtualized network element management entity to which it belongs, and deleting the load and resource spare information of the local storage network element.