WO2016155291A1

WO2016155291A1 - Method and apparatus for managing virtualized network function scaling

Info

Publication number: WO2016155291A1
Application number: PCT/CN2015/092444
Authority: WO
Inventors: 祝伟宏
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2015-04-03
Filing date: 2015-10-21
Publication date: 2016-10-06
Also published as: CN106162507A

Abstract

A method and apparatus for managing virtualized network function scaling. The method comprises: according to virtualized network function (VNF) scaling instruction parameters, determining the capability to be reached by a VNF instance after scaling, wherein the VNF scaling instruction parameters comprise an identifier of the VNF instance which is to be scaled and a parameter of the capability to be reached by the VNF instance after scaling; according to the determined capability to be reached by the VNF instance after scaling, determining a deployment specification that the VNF instance should be scaled to; according to the determined deployment specification, performing a scaling operation on the VNF instance. The above-mentioned technical solution specifies which parameter should be used to coordinate a VNF scaling operation when different management apparatuses initiate VNF scaling, thereby avoiding VNF scaling conflict.

Description

Management method and device for virtualized network function expansion and contraction

Technical field

This document relates to, but is not limited to, the field of management of wireless communication systems, and in particular, to a management method and apparatus for virtualized network function scaling.

Background technique

In the field of management of a wireless communication system, an interface between a network management system (NMS) and an element management system (EMS) is called a northbound interface (Itf-N). The EMS mainly completes the network element management layer (EML) function in the Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), that is, completes the management functions of one or more mobile communication devices, usually different devices. EMS between vendors cannot be universal. The NMS mainly performs the network management layer (NML) function in the ITU TMN and is responsible for the management of all network elements in a managed network. In the case of multiple device vendors in a managed network (called a subnet), the entire subnet can be managed through its own EMS management.

At present, in order to improve the flexibility of the communication network and reduce the management cost, the operator initiates and proposes the concept of Network Function Virtualization (NFV). In the case of using NFV technology, the original physical network element device is virtualized. Instead of a virtualized network function (VNF), the network function is decoupled from the specific hardware. As shown in Figure 1, the VNF is separated from the underlying Network Functions Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI). For the management of VNF, the traditional maintenance management function of VNF is performed by EMS, and the life cycle management function of VNF is completed by VNF Manager (VNFM). The underlying NFVI is managed by the Virtual Infrastructure Manager (VIM). The specific network service is generally completed by one or more VNFs. The management of network services is performed by the NFV orchestrator (NFVO). After the network function is virtualized, from the application level, when a network service instance is to be established, the VNF instance required by the network service needs to be generated first, and then one or more corresponding VNF instances form a network service instance. Service examples to provide network services. One of the benefits of virtualizing the network function is that the resources used by the VNFs that make up the network service can be dynamically adjusted as the network usage changes, that is, the VNF is scaled to improve resource utilization and achieve energy saving.

At present, there is a preliminary study on how to perform VNF scaling (including expansion and shrinkage), and the overall flow of VNF scaling is given. At the same time, it is also proposed that the scaling of the VNF can be initiated by the EMS or by the VNFM. However, the current research has not yet clarified how EMS and VNFM should coordinate when VNF scaling is initiated at the same time (or a short interval) to avoid VNF scaling conflicts. At the same time, it is not clear what parameters should be provided when the EMS initiates VNF scaling and VNFM. Coordination to avoid VNF scaling conflicts.

Summary of the invention

The following is an overview of the topics detailed in this document. This Summary is not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

The embodiments of the present invention provide a management method and device for virtualized network function scaling, which can clarify which parameters are used for VNF scaling operation coordination when different management devices initiate VNF expansion, thereby avoiding VNF expansion conflicts.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a management method for a virtualized network function, including: determining, according to a parameter of a virtualized network function VNF expansion command, a capability to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled, wherein the parameters of the VNF expansion command include scaling The VNF instance ID and the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled; determine the deployment specification that the VNF instance should be scaled according to the determined capability of the VNF instance to be retracted; and determine the VNF instance according to the determined deployment specifications. Perform a telescopic operation.

Optionally, the scaling operation of the VNF instance according to the determined deployment specification includes: when it is not detected that the VNF instance has a scaling target for the deployment specification that the scaling operation is in progress or is preparing to start, The VNF instance is scaled according to the determined deployment specifications.

Optionally, when there are two or more VNF expansion instructions for the same VNF instance, the management method further includes: determining parameters of the VNF expansion instruction of the VNF instance according to a preset scaling priority.

Optionally, the management method further includes: pre-setting a VNF deployment specification definition in the virtualized network function descriptor VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance before determining a deployment specification that the VNF instance should be scaled to;

The determining the deployment specification that the VNF instance should be scaled to include: determining the VNF deployment specification definition in the VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance according to the determined capability of the VNF instance to be retracted, and determining that the VNF instance should be expanded and contracted. Deployment specifications.

Optionally, the performing the scaling operation on the VNF instance includes: determining, according to the determined deployment specification, the quantity of resources required by the VNF instance after the scaling, performing an operation of changing resources of the VNF instance, and completing the scaling of the VNF instance. .

Optionally, the performing the operation of changing resources of the VNF instance includes:

Sending a request for approving VNF scaling to the network function virtualization orchestrator NFVO; after receiving the response message for approving the VNF scaling from the NFVO, requesting the corresponding resource to the VIM request; after the VIM allocates the corresponding resource, it returns an acknowledgement message.

Optionally, the expression of the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is expanded includes:

Specifies the capabilities provided by the VNF instance after scaling; or,

The ability to specify a scaled VNF instance is a percentage of existing capabilities.

Optionally, the VNF expansion command is initiated by the VNFM, the network element management system EMS, the operation support system OSS, the service support system BSS, or the network management system NMS.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a management device for virtualizing a network function, comprising: a capability determining module, configured to determine, according to a parameter of the VNF expansion command, a capability to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled, wherein the parameters of the VNF expansion command include The identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled and the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled; the deployment specification determining module is configured to determine the deployment specification that the VNF instance should be scaled according to the determined capability of the VNF instance to be scaled; The processing module is configured to perform a scaling operation on the VNF instance according to the determined deployment specifications.

Optionally, the management device further includes: an checking module, configured to check whether the VNF instance has a scaling target for the deployment specification that the scaling operation is in progress or is preparing to start;

The processing module is configured to: when the check module does not check that the VNF instance has a telescopic target that is a telescopic operation of the deployment specification, is determined or is preparing to start, according to the determined Deploy specifications to scale the VNF instance.

Optionally, the management apparatus further includes: a parameter determining module, configured to: when there are two or more VNF scaling instructions for the same VNF instance, determine a VNF for the VNF instance according to a preset scaling priority The parameters of the telescopic instruction.

Optionally, the management device further includes: a setting module, configured to preset a VNF deployment specification definition in the VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance;

The deployment specification determining module is configured to determine the deployment specification that the VNF instance should be scaled to: the VNF deployment specification corresponding to the VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance is determined according to the determined capability of the VNF instance to be retracted. Define, determine the deployment specification to which the VNF instance should scale.

Optionally, the processing module is configured to perform a scaling operation on the VNF instance by performing: determining, according to the determined deployment specification, a quantity of resources required by the VNF instance after the scaling, and performing an operation of changing resources of the VNF instance. , complete the scaling of the VNF instance.

Specifies the capabilities provided by the VNF instance after scaling; or,

The embodiment of the invention further provides a computer storage medium, wherein the computer storage medium stores computer executable instructions, and the computer executable instructions are used to execute the above method.

In the management scheme of the embodiment of the present invention, the capability of the VNF instance to be reached after the scaling of the VNF is determined according to the parameters of the VNF scaling command, where the parameters of the VNF scaling command include the identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled and the VNF instance needs to be extended after being scaled. The capability parameter is determined according to the determined capability of the VNF instance to be retracted, and the deployment specification of the VNF instance to be scaled is determined; and the VNF instance is scaled according to the determined deployment specifications. The embodiment of the invention clarifies the capability parameters that the VNF needs to reach after the VNF expansion command is initiated by the management device, and provides technical guarantee for the coordination of the VNF expansion operation, thereby avoiding the VNF expansion conflict.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, after determining the deployment specification that the VNF instance should be scaled according to the parameters of the VNF expansion and contraction instruction, when the VNF instance has not been checked, the expansion target is the deployment rule. When the scaling operation of the grid is in progress or is preparing to start, the VNF instance is scaled according to the determined deployment specifications. Or, when there are two or more VNF expansion instructions for the same VNF instance, determining parameters of the VNF expansion instruction of the VNF instance according to the preset scaling priority, and determining the VNF according to the parameters of the VNF expansion instruction. The deployment specification of the instance to be scaled to, and the VNF instance is scaled according to the determined deployment specifications. In this way, the purpose of coordinating VNF scaling operations between different management devices (such as EMS and VNFM) is achieved, thereby avoiding VNF scaling conflicts.

Other aspects will be apparent upon reading and understanding the drawings and detailed description.

BRIEF abstract

1 is an architectural diagram of network function virtualization in the related art;

2 is a flowchart of a method for managing virtualized network function scaling according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for managing virtualized network function scaling according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG.

4 is a flowchart of a method for managing virtualized network function scaling according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for managing virtualized network function scaling according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention;

6 is a flowchart of a method for managing virtualized network function scaling according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a component of a management device for virtualized network function scaling according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiments of the invention

The embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for managing a virtualized network function scaling according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is applied to a management device for virtualized network function scaling, and the management device includes a VNFM. Figure 2 The management method for the virtualized network function scaling provided by the embodiment of the present invention includes:

Step 11: Determine the capability of the VNF instance to be retracted according to the parameters of the VNF expansion command. The parameters of the VNF expansion command include the identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled and the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled.

In this step, the expressions of the capability parameters to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled include:

Specifies the capabilities provided by the VNF instance after scaling; or,

In this step, the VNF expansion command is initiated by a Virtual Network Function Manager (VNFM), an Element Management System (EMS), an Operation Support System (OSS), a Service Support System (BSS), or a Network Management System (NMS). The EMS sends the VNF extension command to the VNFM, which may be initiated by the EMS, or may be automatically initiated by the function module located in the EMS. When the VNF expansion command is initiated by the OSS/BSS/NMS, the OSS/BSS/NMS first sends the instruction to the EMS, and the EMS forwards it to the VNFM; or, the OSS/BSS/NMS first sends the instruction to the NFVO, and the NFVO forwards it to the VNFM. . When the VNF expansion command is initiated by the OSS/BSS/NMS, the OSS/BSS/NMS sends the VNF expansion command to the VNFM, which may be initiated by the OSS/BSS/NMS or manually by the OSS/BSS/NMS. The module is automatically initiated, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present invention. VNFM itself can also initiate VNF scaling instructions.

Here, the scaling of the VNF instance mentioned in the embodiment of the present invention includes scale out or scale up and scale in or scale down.

Among them, the expansion includes two cases:

Scale out: When the VNF is composed of multiple Virtualization Deployment Units (VDUs), the VDU instances that form the VNF instance are added to increase the capability of the VNF instance.

Scale up: increase the configuration of a virtual machine (VM) running a VNF instance, such as adding CPU, memory, network ports, etc., to increase the capabilities of the VNF instance;

Similarly, shrinkage also includes two situations:

Scale in: when the VNF can be composed of multiple VDUs, reduce the composition VDU instance of the VNF instance to reduce the ability of the VNF instance;

Scale down: Reduces the configuration of virtual machines (VMs) running VNF instances, such as reducing CPU, memory, network ports, etc., to reduce the ability of VNF instances.

Step 12: Determine the deployment specification that the VNF instance should be scaled according to the determined capability of the VNF instance to be retracted.

Optionally, the method further includes: pre-setting the definition of the VNF deployment specification in the virtualized network function descriptor (VNFD) corresponding to the VNF instance before performing step 12.

Optionally, the step 12 includes: determining, according to the determined capability of the VNF instance to be retracted, the VNF deployment specification definition in the VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance, and determining the deployment specification that the VNF instance should be scaled to.

The attributes related to the embodiment of the present invention included in the Virtualized Network Function Descriptor (VNFD) are:

The monitoring parameter (monitoring_parameter) is used to describe which parameters are monitored by the VNF type, and one or more monitoring parameters are used to determine the deployment specification of the VNF type, and also indicate the capabilities that the VNF type can provide. Examples include, but are not limited to, calls-per second (CPS), flows per-second, number-of-subscribers, and the like;

The VNF deployment specification is used to describe how many levels of capability the VNF type can provide. The VNF deployment specification utilizes one or more of the above monitoring parameters as its deployment specification key indicator (flavour_key) to indicate different deployment specifications. For example, when the number of calls per second is used as a key indicator, different values of the number of calls per second can be used to indicate different deployment specifications of the VNF. For example, the deployment specification can be expressed as 10,000 calls per second and 50,000 calls per second. 100,000 calls per second, etc.

Step 13: Perform a scaling operation on the VNF instance according to the determined deployment specifications.

Optionally, the step includes: determining, according to the determined deployment specification, the quantity of the resources required by the VNF instance after the scaling, performing the operation of changing the resources of the VNF instance, and completing the scaling of the VNF instance.

The performing the operation of changing resources of the VNF instance includes:

Sending a request to approve the VNF scaling to the Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO); NFVO checks whether the existing resources can satisfy the applied VNF scaling from the Virtual Infrastructure Manager (VIM); VIM returns the inspection and resource reservation results to the NFVO; The existing resources meet the demand and the subscription is successful, and NFVO returns a response message for approving the VNF scaling;

After receiving the response message for approving the VNF extension, the VIM is requested to allocate the corresponding resource; after the VIM allocates the corresponding resource, the confirmation message is returned.

In an embodiment, the step 13 may include: when the VNF instance has not been checked that the scaling target is the scaling operation of the deployment specification, and the startup or the preparation is being started, the VNF instance is expanded according to the determined deployment specification. operating.

In another embodiment, when there are two or more VNF expansion instructions for the same VNF instance, the method further includes: determining parameters of the VNF expansion instruction of the VNF instance according to a preset scaling priority. .

The invention is described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for managing virtualized network function scaling according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the steps of the first embodiment are specifically described:

Step 100: In the EMS, manually or automatically decide to start the VNF expansion;

Step 101: The EMS sends the VNF expansion command to the VNFM, where the parameters of the VNF expansion command include the identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled, and the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled.

Step 102: The VNFM determines, according to the parameters of the received VNF expansion and contraction command, the capability that the VNF instance needs to reach after being scaled.

Step 103: The VNFM needs to reach the VNF deployment specification according to the VNF instance corresponding to the VNF instance, and determines the deployment specification that the VNF instance should be scaled to;

Optionally, the step includes: according to the value of the “capability to be reached after the VNF is extended” parameter, for example, the number of calls per second (CPS)=3K, corresponding to the definition of the VNF deployment specification in the VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance, The minimum specifications required by the capability, such as the VNF supported by the VNFD, can provide the CPS of 1K, 5K, and 10K. Then the deployment specification determined here is the specification corresponding to CPS=5K;

Step 104: The VNFM initiates a scaling operation on the VNF instance according to the determined deployment specification.

Step 105: The VNFM notifies the EMS that the scaling operation of the VNF instance is completed.

Optionally, step 104 includes the following steps:

Step 1041: The VNFM sends a request to the NFVO to approve the VNF expansion;

Step 1042: The NFVO checks whether the existing resource can satisfy the applied VNF expansion from the VIM, and reserves the resource if it is satisfied;

Step 1043: The VIM returns an inspection and resource reservation result to the NFVO.

Step 1044: If the existing resource meets the requirement and the subscription is successful, the NFVO returns a response message for approving the VNF extension to the VNFM.

Step 1045: The VNFM requests the VIM to allocate corresponding resources.

Step 1046: After the VIM allocates the corresponding resource, it returns an acknowledgement message to the VNFM.

Embodiment 2

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for managing virtualized network function scaling according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The second embodiment can prevent the EMS and the VNFM from colliding when the same VNF expansion operation is initiated simultaneously or in a short period of time, respectively. As shown in FIG. 4, each step of the second embodiment of the present invention is specifically described:

Step 201: The VNFM receives the VNF expansion command from the EMS, where the parameters of the VNF expansion command include an identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled (eg, vnfr_id), and a capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled (eg, deployment_flavour-flavour_key);

Step 202: The VNFM performs pre-processing according to the parameters of the received VNF expansion command. For example, according to the identifier (vnfr_id) of the VNF instance to be scaled, it is determined which VNF instance is to be scaled, and the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled. (deployment_flavour-flavour_key) determines the ability of the VNF instance to reach after being scaled. For example, when the VNF instance is a virtual packet data network gateway (vPGW), the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled is The number of calls per second (calls per second) is 10K. That is, support up to 10,000 calls per second;

Step 203: The VNFM needs to reach the VNF deployment specification definition in the VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance, and determines which deployment specification the VNF instance should be scaled to;

Step 204: The VNFM checks whether the VNF instance has the scaling operation of the deployment specification, and is in the process of being deployed or is preparing to start. If the scaling target is the scaling operation of the foregoing deployment specification, the VNFM is in progress or is preparing to start. Ignore the received VNF expansion command, the process ends, if there is no scaling operation for the above deployment specification, the operation is in progress or is preparing to start, proceed to step 205;

Step 205: The VNFM determines the number of resources required by the VNF instance after the scaling of the VNF instance according to the determined deployment specifications, and optionally determines the amount of resources such as CPU, memory, and storage space required by the VDU corresponding to the VNF instance after the scaling;

Step 206: The VNFM performs the operation of changing the resources of the VNF instance according to the quantity of the resources required by the VNF instance, and completes the scaling of the VNF instance. The step is performed as described in step 104 in the first embodiment. No longer;

Step 207: The VNFM notifies the EMS that the extension of the VNF instance is complete, so that the EMS performs corresponding operations on the VNF instance, such as configuring related parameters.

Embodiment 3

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for managing virtualized network function scaling according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. The third embodiment can avoid conflicts when the EMS and the VNFM initiate any scaling operation on the same VNF instance at the same time or in a short period of time. As shown in FIG. 5, the steps of the third embodiment are specifically described below:

Step 301: The VNFM receives the VNF expansion instruction from the EMS, where the parameters of the VNF expansion instruction include: an identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled, and a capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled;

Step 302: The VNFM determines, according to the parameters of the received VNF expansion and contraction command, the capability that the VNF instance needs to reach after being scaled.

Step 303: According to the capability of the VNF instance to be extended after the expansion, correspondingly searching for the VNF The definition of the VNF deployment specification in the VNFD corresponding to the instance determines which deployment specification the VNF instance should scale to;

Step 304: The VNFM checks whether the VNFM itself also initiates a scaling instruction for the VNF instance, if not, then proceeds to step 306; if yes, then proceeds to step 305;

Step 305: Check the scaling priority of the system to determine the deployment specification of the VNF instance. If the priority of the ENF is high, the deployment specification of the VNF instance is determined according to the parameters sent by the EMS. The deployment specification of the VNF instance after scaling is the deployment specification determined by the VNFM itself.

Step 306: The VNFM determines the amount of resources required by the VNF instance after the scaling according to the determined deployment specifications.

Step 307: The VNFM performs the operation of changing the resources of the VNF instance according to the number of resources required by the VNF instance, and completes the scaling of the VNF instance. The implementation process of the VNF instance scaling operation is the same as that in the first embodiment. Narrative

Step 308: The VNFM notifies the EMS that the extension of the VNF instance is complete, so that the EMS performs corresponding operations on the VNF instance, such as configuring related parameters.

In addition, in this embodiment, after the VNFM receives the VNF expansion command, it may determine whether there are two or more VNF expansion instructions of the same VNF instance, and if there are two or more VNF expansion instructions of the same VNF instance, The specific processing refers to step 305 to step 308. If not, the specific processing refers to steps 306 to 308. Therefore, it will not be repeated here.

Embodiment 4

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for managing virtualized network function scaling according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, each step of the fourth embodiment of the present invention is specifically described as follows:

Step 401: The NMS initiates an instruction for scaling the VNF instance, and sends the VNF instance to the EMS. The parameters of the VNF expansion command include the identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled and the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF is scaled.

Step 402: After receiving the VNF expansion command sent by the NMS to the VNF instance, the EMS forwards the VNF expansion instruction to the VNFM.

Step 403: After receiving the VNF expansion command sent by the EMS, the VNFM receives the VNF according to the received VNF. The parameter of the telescopic instruction determines the capability of the VNF instance to reach after being scaled;

Step 404: According to the VNF deployment specification definition of the VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance, determine the deployment specification of the VNF instance to which the VNF instance should be scaled.

Step 405: The VNFM checks whether the VNF instance has the scaling operation of the deployment specification, and is in the process of being deployed or is preparing to start. If the scaling target is the scaling operation of the foregoing deployment specification, the VNFM is in progress or is preparing to start. Ignore the received VNF expansion command, the process ends, if there is no scaling operation for the above deployment specification, the process is in progress or is preparing to start, proceed to step 406;

Step 406: The VNFM determines the amount of resources required by the VNF instance after the scaling according to the determined deployment specifications.

Step 407: The VNFM performs the operation of changing the resources of the VNF instance according to the number of resources required by the VNF instance after the scaling, and completes the scaling of the VNF instance. The specific implementation process of the VNF instance scaling operation is the same as that in the first embodiment. This will not be repeated here;

Step 408: The VNFM notifies the EMS that the extension of the VNF instance is complete, so that the EMS performs corresponding operations on the VNF instance, such as configuring related parameters.

Step 409: The EMS notifies the NMS that the scaling of the VNF instance has been completed.

Embodiment 5

The method for flexing the function of the virtualized network provided by the fifth embodiment of the present invention is different from that of the fourth embodiment. In the fifth embodiment, the VNF expansion command is initiated by the OSS. Optionally, the OSS initiates an instruction for scaling the VNF instance, and sends the VNF instance to the EMS. The parameters of the VNF expansion command include the identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled and the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled. After receiving the VNF expansion command sent by the OSS to the VNF instance, the EMS forwards the VNF expansion command to the VNFM. The subsequent processing is the same as the step 403 to the step 408 in the fourth embodiment, and therefore is not described here. Finally, the VNF is completed. After scaling, the EMS notifies the OSS that the scaling of the VNF instance has been completed.

Embodiment 6

The method for expanding the function of the virtualized network function provided by the sixth embodiment of the present invention is different from that of the fourth embodiment. In the sixth embodiment, the VNF expansion command is initiated by the BSS. Optionally, the BSS initiates an instruction for scaling the VNF instance, and sends the VNF instance to the EMS. The parameters of the VNF expansion command include the identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled and the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled. After receiving the VNF expansion command sent by the BSS to the VNF instance, the EMS forwards the VNF expansion command to the VNFM. The subsequent processing is the same as the step 403 to the step 408 in the fourth embodiment, and therefore is not described here. Finally, the VNF is completed. After scaling, the EMS notifies the BSS that the scaling of the VNF instance has been completed.

Example 7

The method for flexing the function of the virtualized network provided by the seventh embodiment of the present invention is different from that of the fourth embodiment. In the seventh embodiment, the VNF expansion command is initiated by the NMS. Optionally, the NMS initiates an instruction for scaling the VNF instance, and sends the VNF instance to the NFVO. The parameters of the VNF expansion command include the identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled and the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled. After receiving the VNF expansion command sent by the NMS to the VNF instance, the NFVO forwards the VNF expansion command to the VNFM; the subsequent processing is the same as the step 403 to the step 408 of the fourth embodiment, and therefore is not described herein again. Finally, the VNF is completed. After the scaling, the EMS notifies the NMS that the scaling of the VNF instance has been completed.

Example eight

The method for flexing the function of the virtualized network provided by the eighth embodiment of the present invention is different from that of the fourth embodiment. In the eighth embodiment, the VNF expansion command is initiated by the OSS and forwarded to the VNFM through the NFVO. Optionally, the OSS initiates an instruction for scaling the VNF instance, and sends the VNF instance to the NFVO. The parameters of the VNF expansion command include the identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled and the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled. After receiving the VNF expansion command sent by the OSS to the VNF instance, the NFVO forwards the VNF expansion command to the VNFM; the subsequent processing is the same as the step 403 to the step 407 of the fourth embodiment, and therefore is not described herein again. Finally, the VNF is completed. After scaling, the VNFM notifies NFVO that the scaling of the VNF instance has been completed; the NFVO notifies the OSS that the scaling of the VNF instance has been completed.

Example nine

The method for flexing the function of the virtualized network provided by the ninth embodiment of the present invention is different from that of the fourth embodiment. In the ninth embodiment, the VNF expansion command is initiated by the BSS and forwarded to the NFVO. VNFM. Optionally, the BSS initiates an instruction for scaling the VNF instance, and sends the VNF instance to the NFVO. The parameters of the VNF expansion command include the identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled and the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled. After receiving the VNF expansion command sent by the BSS to the VNF instance, the NFVO forwards the VNF expansion command to the VNFM; the subsequent processing is the same as the step 403 to the step 407 of the fourth embodiment, and therefore is not described herein again. Finally, the VNF is completed. After scaling, the VNFM notifies NFVO that the scaling of the VNF instance has been completed; the NFVO notifies the BSS that the scaling of the VNF instance has been completed.

It should be noted that the EMS refers to the VNFM according to the processing procedure of the parameters of the VNF expansion and contraction instruction, and thus will not be described herein.

In addition, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a management device for flexing a virtualized network function. As shown in FIG. 7, the method includes: a capability determining module, configured to determine, according to parameters of the VNF expansion command, a capability to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled, The parameter of the VNF expansion command includes the identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled and the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled. The deployment specification determining module is configured to determine the VNF according to the determined capability of the VNF instance to be extended after the expansion. The deployment specification that the instance should be scaled to; the processing module is configured to perform the scaling operation on the VNF instance according to the determined deployment specifications.

The expression of the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is expanded and contracted includes:

Specifies the capabilities that the VNF instance can provide after scaling; or,

In an embodiment, the management apparatus further includes: an checking module, configured to check whether the VNF instance has a telescopic operation that is a telescopic operation of the deployment specification, is in progress or is preparing to start. The processing module is configured to: when the check module does not check that the VNF instance has a scaling target that is a scaling operation of the deployment specification, and is in preparation or starting to start, according to the determined deployment specification, the VNF instance is performed. Telescopic operation.

In an embodiment, the management device further includes: a parameter determining module, configured to exist when there are two When the VNF expansion command is used for the same VNF instance, the parameters of the VNF expansion instruction for the VNF instance are determined according to the preset scaling priority.

In an embodiment, the management device further includes: a setting module, configured to preset a VNF deployment specification definition in the VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance. The deployment specification determining module is configured to: according to the capability of the VNF instance to be retracted, the VNF deployment specification definition in the VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance is determined, and the deployment specification that the VNF instance should be scaled to is determined.

In an embodiment, the processing module is configured to: determine, according to the determined deployment specification, the quantity of resources required by the VNF instance after the scaling, perform an operation of changing resources of the VNF instance, and complete scaling of the VNF instance.

In addition, the specific processing procedure of the management apparatus provided by the embodiment of the present invention is the same as that of the foregoing method, and thus will not be further described herein.

The above is a further detailed description of the present invention in connection with the specific embodiments, and the specific embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the description.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that all or a portion of the steps of the above-described embodiments can be implemented using a computer program flow, which can be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as on a corresponding hardware platform (eg, The system, device, device, device, etc. are executed, and when executed, include one or a combination of the steps of the method embodiments.

Alternatively, all or part of the steps of the above embodiments may also be implemented by using an integrated circuit. These steps may be separately fabricated into individual integrated circuit modules, or multiple modules or steps may be fabricated into a single integrated circuit module. achieve.

The devices/function modules/functional units in the above embodiments may be implemented by a general-purpose computing device, which may be centralized on a single computing device or distributed over a network of multiple computing devices.

When each device/function module/functional unit in the above embodiment is implemented in the form of a software function module and sold or used as a stand-alone product, it can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. The above mentioned computer readable storage medium may be a read only memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk or the like.

Industrial applicability

The above technical solution achieves the purpose of coordinating the VNF expansion operation between different management devices (such as EMS and VNFM), thereby avoiding the VNF expansion conflict.

Claims

A management method for virtualized network function scaling includes:

Determining the capability of the VNF instance to be retracted according to the parameters of the virtualized network function VNF expansion command, where the parameters of the VNF expansion command include the identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled and the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled.

Determine the deployment specifications to which the VNF instance should be scaled according to the determined capability of the VNF instance to be scaled.

The VNF instance is scaled according to the determined deployment specifications.
The management method of claim 1, wherein the scaling operation of the VNF instance according to the determined deployment specification comprises:

The VNF instance is scaled according to the determined deployment specifications when it is not detected that the VNF instance has the scaling target being the scaling operation of the deployment specification.
The management method of claim 1 further comprising:

When there are two or more VNF scaling instructions for the same VNF instance, the parameters of the VNF scaling instruction for the VNF instance are determined according to a preset scaling priority.
The management method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

Before determining the deployment specifications to which the VNF instance should be scaled, the VNF deployment specification definition in the virtualized network function descriptor VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance is preset;

The determining the deployment specification that the VNF instance should be scaled to include: determining the VNF deployment specification definition in the VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance according to the determined capability of the VNF instance to be retracted, and determining that the VNF instance should be expanded and contracted. Deployment specifications.
The management method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the performing the scaling operation on the VNF instance comprises:

The operation of changing the resources of the VNF instance is performed according to the determined deployment specification, and the operation of changing the resources of the VNF instance is performed to complete the scaling of the VNF instance.
The management method according to claim 5, wherein said executing changes said VNF instance The operations of the resources include:

Sending a request to approve the VNF scaling to the Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator NFVO;

After receiving the response message for approving the VNF extension from the NFVO, the corresponding resource is allocated to the VIM request; after the VIM allocates the corresponding resource, the confirmation message is returned.
The management method of claim 1, wherein the expression of the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled comprises:

Specifies the capabilities provided by the VNF instance after scaling; or,

The ability to specify a scaled VNF instance is a percentage of existing capabilities.
The management method according to claim 1, wherein

The VNF expansion command is initiated by the VNF manager VNFM, the network element management system EMS, the operation support system OSS, the service support system BSS, or the network management system NMS.
A management device for virtualized network function scaling includes:

The capability determining module is configured to determine, according to the parameters of the VNF scaling instruction, the capability to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled, wherein the parameter of the VNF scaling command includes an identifier of the VNF instance to be scaled and a capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is scaled. ;

The deployment specification determining module is configured to determine the deployment specification that the VNF instance should be scaled according to the determined capability of the VNF instance to be extended after being scaled;

The processing module is configured to perform a scaling operation on the VNF instance according to the determined deployment specifications.
The management device according to claim 9, further comprising:

The check module is configured to check whether the VNF instance has a telescopic operation that is a telescopic operation of the deployment specification, and is in progress or ready to be started;

The processing module is configured to: when the check module does not check that the VNF instance has a scaling target that is a scaling operation of the deployment specification, and is in preparation or starting to start, according to the determined deployment specification, the VNF instance is performed. Telescopic operation.
The management device according to claim 9, further comprising:

The parameter determining module is configured to: when there are two or more VNF scaling instructions for the same VNF instance, determine a VNF scaling index for the VNF instance according to a preset scaling priority. The parameters of the order.
The management device according to any one of claims 9 to 11, further comprising:

The setting module is set to pre-set the definition of the VNF deployment specification in the VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance;

The deployment specification determining module is configured to determine the deployment specification that the VNF instance should be scaled to: the VNF deployment specification corresponding to the VNFD corresponding to the VNF instance is determined according to the determined capability of the VNF instance to be retracted. Define, determine the deployment specification to which the VNF instance should scale.
A management device according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein

The processing module is configured to perform a scaling operation on the VNF instance by:

The operation of changing the resources of the VNF instance is performed according to the determined deployment specification, and the operation of changing the resources of the VNF instance is performed to complete the scaling of the VNF instance.
The management apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the expression of the capability parameter to be reached after the VNF instance is expanded and contracted comprises:

Specifies the capabilities provided by the VNF instance after scaling; or,

The ability to specify a scaled VNF instance is a percentage of existing capabilities.
A computer storage medium having stored therein computer executable instructions for performing the method of any one of claims 1-8.